North Carolina teen sentenced for school shooting threats over Charlie Kirk posts

A North Carolina teenager who threatened mass shootings at several universities after seeing posts disparaging Charlie Kirk following his assassination has been sentenced to 10 months in prison, according to federal prosecutors.

Michael Zechariah Tedder, 19, of Advance, North Carolina, was sentenced on Tuesday in federal court in the Middle District of North Carolina. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release after his prison term.

According to court documents, Tedder called the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of North Texas and the University of Louisville on September 12, 2025, and made specific threats of violence.

Prosecutors said Tedder threatened to “slaughter” and “massacre” victims with a firearm and referenced watching them “choke on their own blood.” At sentencing, attorneys also referenced Tedder’s significant history of mental health issues.

The threats were made after Tedder saw media and online reports about people disparaging Kirk after his assassination, prosecutors said.

The indictment said one call to Georgia Tech threatened to shoot up the school if posters of Kirk were not taken down, while another call to the University of Louisville threatened violence if posters mocking Kirk were not removed.

In another threat, prosecutors said Tedder used racist and antisemitic language while threatening a shooting at the University of North Texas.

Tedder pleaded guilty in March to communicating a threat in interstate commerce.