Police: 18-year-old arrested after sending threats, racial slurs to Georgia high school student

BARTOW COUNTY, Ga. - An 18-year-old has been arrested and is facing charges that include cruelty to children after deputies say he threatened a Bartow County high school student.

Officials arrested 18-year-old Hartwell resident Jacob Clifford Scarborough and charged him with first-degree cruelty to children, harassing phone calls, misdemeanor electronic communication, and terroristic threats on Monday.

According to the Bartow County Sheriff's Office, Scarborough sent multiple messages to a Cass High School student through Snapchat and Instagram threatening to harm the student when she returned to school.

Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts

The threats came as deputies were investigating an altercation at the high school two days before, when student Trump supporters and a biracial female student fought at school. Several parents told FOX 5 the Cass High School students were greeted with Trump signs, MAGA hats, and racial slurs Wednesday morning, organized by a group of students.

Video of the clash, which shows one of the students pouring a liquid which is believed to be chewing tobacco saliva, on the biracial student before the altercation, was shared on social media.

As well as the threats, officials say Scarborough said he would harm African-Americans and used derogatory racial slurs. He has no known ties to the Bartow County School system or any of the system's student body.

Scarborough is currently in the Hall County Jail while waiting to be transported to the Bartow County Sheriff's Office Detention Center.

Download the FOX 5 Atlanta app for breaking news and weather alerts.