A Florida teenager is facing four charges after a kidnapping hoax in Marion County, Florida. Police arrested Caden Speight after he faked a kidnapping and blamed four Latino men. The teenager allegedly used ChatGPT for information to help make his story believable. Authorities have not released a motive for the crime.

A North Florida teenager took a plea deal in faking his abduction

On Sept. 25, Caden Speight texted his family, indicating that he was under attack. The text prompted authorities to issue an Amber Alert and launch an extensive search for the teenager. The story generated a lot of reaction on social media from people hoping for the teenager’s safe return.

“I need help being shot at 4 Hispanics armed white van one driver im hit,” the text read.

Shortly after the Amber Alert and before they found Speight, Marion County Sheriff’s Office officials determined the information was false. Police discovered Speight the next day in a parking lot with a gunshot wound to his leg. He told officers that the men shot him and then dumped him in the parking lot. Officers also found his father’s handgun in his possession.

Authorities determined that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted, and his story quickly unraveled. Law enforcement, in their investigation, learned that Speight had visited a local Walmart the day before his abduction claim. Law enforcement found that Speight purchased a bicycle, a tent, and camping equipment, indicating that he was planning the disappearance.

Speight consulted with ChatGPT for help in staging the crime. One of his recent searches was “how to take blood out of myself for medical purposes without it hurting,” according to NBC News. He had also searched for information about Mexican cartels.

Police found his father’s car, which he used to stage the crime scene. Police found a bottle containing his blood. According to FOX 35 Orlando, Speight shot through the car’s windshield, spread his blood all over the car, and smashed his cell phone.

He has taken a plea deal and will be in court in November.

Stories of unnamed Latino criminals are not a new thing

This marks the second time under a Trump presidency that someone has blamed Latinos for a staged kidnapping. The stories of staging crimes to blame “the other” have existed throughout history. People have long used the idea of a nameless boogeyman, but now they’re turning it against the Latino community.

In 2016, Sherri Papini was reported missing on Nov. 2, 2016, by her husband. He came home, discovered she was missing, and found her phone and earbuds at an intersection a mile away. The story garnered extensive media attention while law enforcement tried to find her for three weeks.

Papini reappeared on Nov. 24, 2016, and claimed that two Latina women abducted her. For years, she stuck to her story but it was discovered that she faked her kidnapping and spent that time with her ex-boyfriend.

The false narratives feed the growing anti-Latino sentiment

Politicians and media figures have used increasingly dehumanizing language toward Latinos in the U.S. since 2015. That rhetoric turns into real consequences by reshaping how people think about others. The use of language to dehumanize people manifests in multiple ways.

First, the language works to erase empathy. When Latinos are called criminals and a danger, it lets others start thinking about Latinos in general as dangerous. This makes people stop feeling empathy towards families ripped apart in immigration raids.

The next step is normalizing discrimination. During Trump’s 2024 campaign, he used one rally to say that migrants were building an army to attack Americans from within. By framing Latinos en masse as a threat, President Trump opens the door to discriminatory actions against Latinos.

The long-term repercussions cause undue harm to the populations targeted. The anti-immigrant rhetoric right now is a dog whistle for anti-Latino. It is no coincidence that the first city targeted by immigration raids was Los Angeles. A city characterized by its Latino identity and strong immigrant communities.

So, stories like Speight, whether intentionally or not, further villainize Latinos as a violent scapegoat for the U.S.

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