A viral seemingly AI trend featuring the Cat in the Hat is raising concerns for law enforcement across Central Alabama after threatening posts connected to the trend surfaced involving schools.
School districts in Walker County say three schools have received threats connected to the trend, and an investigation is ongoing.
In Chilton County, the sheriff’s office says it is also looking into concerns about the trend making its way into the school system.
Meanwhile, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office is taking a proactive approach. The agency says no schools in the county have reported threats connected to the trend so far, but officials are warning parents and students about the potential consequences of participating.
Chief Alex Miles, chief of administration with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, says law enforcement has to treat every threat seriously.
“Anytime that there is a threat made against the school within Tuscaloosa County we take it seriously and we’re going to investigate it regardless,” Miles said.
The trend features AI-generated videos and images of the beloved children’s character in horror-style scenarios. Some users refer to the videos as “creepypasta,” a term commonly used for horror stories or frightening content shared online.
Miles says the fact that a post may be part of a viral trend does not mean law enforcement can dismiss it as a joke.
“We have to take every threat as being credible and we have to investigate it to ensure the safety and security of the students,” Miles said.
That investigation can require law enforcement to dedicate resources to determining who created a post, where it came from and whether there was an actual intent to carry out a threat.
“It becomes a crime when it disrupts school activities and law enforcement has to get involved and take a lot of resources unnecessarily to investigate something that could potentially be a hoax,” Miles said.
Under Alabama law, making a qualifying terrorist threat involving a school can be charged as a Class B felony. Whether a specific post meets that threshold depends on the circumstances and the content of the threat.
For parents and students, Miles says the safest response is to report concerning posts rather than share them.
If a post specifically names a school or appears to threaten a person, Miles says people should notify the appropriate authorities and allow investigators to determine whether the threat is credible.
The sheriff’s office is also encouraging parents to monitor their children’s activity on social media as these types of AI-generated trends continue to spread.
