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Terrebonne Parish officials say a trying episode last month involving unfounded reports of threats at a local high school has sparked deep thought on how best to deal with similar situations in the future.
The Sheriff’s Office, its school district and South Terrebonne High were flooded with calls from anxious parents as half-truths, fantasy and outright false information spread between students and parents, and then parent-to-parent, on social media platforms.
With no actual threats confirmed, officials came to believe that a South Terrebonne student charged with felony terrorizing was more collateral damage than criminal actor, and that ill-timed coincidence more than anything else was what resulted in 17-year-old Tate Songe being on their radar at all. Further investigation revealed that the teen had not made a threat, and that the circumstances that resulted in his arrest were largely misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Authorities say Tate’s case will likely be formally dismissed. There is no evidence, officials confirmed, that there was any criminal intent on the teen’s part. A detailed story in The TIMES on the South Terrebonne situation resulted in some officials taking a closer look, more quickly than usual, at the circumstances of the arrest.
Ultimately, District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. personally intervened in the case. After meeting with defense attorney Timothy Ellender, Tate’s grandmother, Donna Pinell as well as with the teen, Waitz opted to place the criminal case on hold, pending potential dismissal if certain conditions are met. The program, called Pre-Trial Intervention, or “PTI” is available to many first-time offenders at the discretion of prosecutors. Waitz made the decision after careful consideration, he said, and examination of all facts available to him.
“I had one group of people in my ear saying he just did a stupid thing,” Waitz said. “Another group thinks he did something horrible. This is a good kid, and my main goal was to see that he will walk across the stage with his fellow graduates in May when they receive their diplomas.”
Tate also will not face the daunting prospect of having a felony record.
In Louisiana district attorneys are afforded tremendous discretion in determining whom they will prosecute and how.
Timothy Ellender commended Waitz for taking the time to look closer.
“While I understand the initial fear and concerns of the community, especially parents of the students at South Terrebonne, further investigation gave the district attorney all the facts needed to determine that this is a good kid who deserves a chance to show that,” Ellender said. “He needs to graduate. This is an opportunity for him to show us that he is not the youth some people suspected him of being.”
The arrest came about because on the morning of Feb. 1 Tate posted a meme — a photo with a caption — on the social media platform Snapchat. The photo was of a student in his early-morning environmental science class who was wearing a wool cap and whose face was covered by a partial mask that appeared to have teeth. The meme read “Don’t Come to School Tomorrow.”
Panic had already been spreading through the school from the night before, when a parent of a student saw a posting describing what were thought to be verbal threats issuing from another, which had nothing to do with Tate.
Tate’s meme was circulating within his Snapchat circle at the same time rumors totally unconnected to it were running through the school, sparked in part by a totally different student’s contact with police because of a medical matter that had no bearing upon the safety of the school. The meme, the departure of one student from the campus, the presence of another in the school’s administrative office and the whirlpool of reports about threats never made added up to a step taken out of an abundance of caution. On Monday, Feb. 4, Tate Songe was arrested by the school’s resource officer after an interview. By then the school’s operations had gone back to normal.
Determined to be no threat to community and not a flight risk, Tate made a $1,000 bond and was released from the Terrebonne Parish jail. He was technically expelled from the school. Immediately he began tending to coursework through a special online program the school system has in place for such situations. Some officials suggested that if indeed he had done anything wrong, the adverse — and in some cases factually deficient — publicity surrounding his arrest was punishment enough. The notoriety the case received still concerns Donna Pinell, even with the peace that has been made with authorities.
“There are articles out there on the internet that make Tate look like he has done something very bad when that is not the case,” the teen’s grandmother said. “How is that going to affect him when he tries to begin a career>”
Tate is scheduled to begin classes at Nicholls State University in the late summer.
Last week, after learning that he will be able to continue with his studies, Tate expressed thanks for his grandmother’s faith in him, and for Waitz’s willingness to look closely at the case against him.
“This has been hard,” he said. “My grandmother and grandfather have always believed in me, they have always helped me to do what’s right. I will be showing them that their faith is well-placed.”
Waitz and other officials said they were glad that once facts were known, the hammer of the law would not be made to fall so harshly on Tate. But the case also posed a dilemma.
“We want people to contact us if they see or hear something, want them to report it,” Waitz said. “But it is important that who they tell are the proper authorities, not to circulate unfounded rumors on social media or through texts, which can create serious problems. Anything you feel is a threat in your mind, the right way to handle it is to call 911. Talk to the right people. You will never get in trouble or be prosecuted or threatened to be arrested for something you feel and you report.”
Superintendent of School Philip Martin had conferenced with Waitz and was supportive of the idea that Tate be allowed back in school under conditions set by the district attorney. Educators, he said, are working to get stronger messages out to students that misuse of social media can have consequences that area not intended by them.
“We are trying to broaden the scope of that,” Martin said. “Social media can be wonderful but what you put down there, assume the whole world will see it. Don’t put anything out there that could scare people.”
