A Bismarck man faces a felony charge for threats against Bismarck schools he allegedly posted on his MySpace page.

Scott Young Bear, 20, was charged Thursday with Class C felony terrorizing.

South Central District Judge David Reich set bond for Young Bear at $5,000 cash Thursday afternoon at the Burleigh County Courthouse, as was recommended by Burleigh County State's Attorney Richard Riha. Reich also prohibited Young Bear from entering the grounds of Bismarck High School, Century High School and South Central High School.

Riha said Young Bear has a short criminal record containing convictions for driving under suspension and misdemeanor theft of property, but Young Bear's alleged threats created "kind of an alarming situation given recent events."

Young Bear protested that the bond was too high.

"I have no violence in my past record," he said. "It was just something that was taken out of context. I don't own any weapons of any kind."

Bismarck Police Lt. Dan Donlin said police learned of the entry on Young Bear's blog, entitled "I love the massacre," from the mother of an acquaintance of Young Bear.

The entry indicated the writer found Monday's mass murder at Virginia Tech humorous and thought a similar shooting in Bismarck would be funny, too, Donlin said.

He said the entry included specific details of carrying out attacks at Bismarck High School, Century High School and South Central High School, including how many guns the shooter would carry.

Donlin said police located and arrested Young Bear on Wednesday.

He said police have to balance freedom of speech issues with public safety issues. Authorities have to take threats seriously, especially in light of Monday's shooting and subsequent bomb scares and threats at high schools and colleges across the nation, Donlin said.

"We're going to take it seriously," he said. "We just can't overlook any kind of threat."

Donlin said police anticipate copy-cat threats following any massacre or anniversary of such an event, such as today's anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

"We're going to see some of that," he said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com)