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Columbine-Threat Teacher Speaks: "I Wasn't Thinking"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 8, 2011
Modified Apr 8, 2011
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 8, 2011
Modified Apr 8, 2011
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Ever since Fort Hamilton High School art teacher Sabrina Milo made "Columbine-like" threats to bring a machine gun to her Brooklyn school and "settle some scores," her week has completely gone to shit. After she was arrested, everyone and their
mother
lawyer has given their opinion on whether her threats were just venting, or something to take seriously. But finally, Milo herself has spoken about the incident: "It didn't even occur to me that the foolish statement I made would be perceived as a terrorist threat," she told ABC.
Milo admitted on camera that she did in fact make the threats in the teacher's lounge: "I started crying and said, 'if I had a shotgun and a trench coat, it would be Columbine all over again.'" But she says it was just an expression of her frustration, the kind of gallows humor that teachers need to survive the job, and share with each other: "I wasn't thinking. It was exercising poor judgment. The door was shut. It was adults. Many times we have gathered together and vented in our own ways."
Now, after a trip to Rikers Island and having to pay $100,000 bail to leave it, she is fully aware of just how bad an idea it was to say what she did: "If I could go back in time, I would not say it. It's scary. I am scared because I want to go back to my school and teach. I want to be with my students." Her students, many of whom have come to her defense in the past week, planned to stage a walkout today in protest of her arrest.
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brooklyn
Columbine
fort hamilton high school
sabrina milo
terrorist threats
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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