A 13-year-old with autism was arrested for making a threat of mass violence at his Tennessee school

ProPublica and WPLN are using a nickname for a 13-year-old with autism at his mother’s request to protect his identity.

The boy, who has autism, told a teacher he didn’t want anyone to look in his backpack because the school would blow up because he has a favorite video game character, Bonnie the bunny.

A new state law requires that anyone who makes a threat of mass violence at school be charged with a felony.

The law does not require that the threat be credible.

In the first six weeks of the school year , 18 kids were arrested for making threats of mass violence.

The state does not collect information about how the felony law has applied to kids with disabilities.

Disability rights advocates say kids like Ty should not be getting arrested under the current law.

He said he would be open to considering a carve-out in the law in the upcoming legislative session for kids with a broader range of disabilities. But, he said, he believes that the law as it stands is making all children in Tennessee , with or without disabilities, safer..