Nathaniel Carrasco, 22, is facing a terroristic threat charge.
He’s accused of making terroristic threats in August while communicating with an Anthropic AI chatbot, writing disturbing comments like, “Hopefully soon I can actually deliver on a [expletive] threat to school kids.”
Nathaniel Carrasco, 22, is facing a terroristic threat charge. (SBG San Antonio)
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He specifically mentioned Serna Elementary School, writing, “I’m just gonna walk in there and start shooting up kids,” and, “I truly do mean my threats.”
The FBI flagged this, and Carrasco was arrested. But his attorney, Don Flanary of Flanary Law Firm says the case might not be as straightforward as you would think.
“It’s kinda dead on arrival,” said Flanary.
Flanary tells us that because the AI program is an object, Carrasco wasn’t talking to anyone. Essentially, it was like talking to yourself in the shower.
“You look at the surrounding circumstances, but in this case, because it never goes anywhere, then how could you ever infer that he was intending to communicate it?” said Flanary.
And even if he knew cops were listening, Flanary asks how do you prove he wasn’t just trying to get their attention?
“I wouldn’t do that, but you know what I’m saying,” said Flanary.
With no other evidence presented yet, attorneys like Joe Hoelscher of HGC Law Firm and Gerald Goldstein of Goldstein & Orr also think the case is flimsy.
“People troll chatbots all the time. That doesn’t mean that we fabricate a warrant,” said Joe Hoelscher.
Goldstein goes further, saying it’s difficult for the law to keep up with new technology that feels like it’s advancing almost every month.
“The Texas Legislature only has to meet every other year,” said Gerald Goldstein.
Even though the attorneys we spoke to think the case may not hold up in court, three NEISD officers were suspended and two sergeants were let go. District officials tell us they feel the discipline was appropriate.