JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A rap video calling out local high school students as "snitches" is catching the attention of the community.
One local man, who asked to remain anonymous, shared the video with News4Jax. He said it's upsetting, because it could be putting innocent students at risk.
"The video is disturbing," he told News4Jax.
The three-minute video, posted by a person using the name Kentland Vinny, who lives in Maryland, was removed from YouTube on Monday, because it violates the company's harassment policy.
The video showed a slideshow of more than a dozen students with words written on them, including homosexual slurs and talk about how students like to snitch on their high schools.
WATCH: YouTube video with students blurred
The students were not directly threatened, but officials worry that there could be retaliation against them.
One of the students labeled as a snitch in the video told News4Jax that she would speak out again if she saw somebody doing something wrong.
She said the pictures in the video are about three years old, and she's not worried about what might happen to her, but that it could cause problems for others.
The man who brought the video to News4Jax said he knows one of the students in the video. He said the language and words are violent, and he wants to stand up for the teens mentioned.
“He (the student) was very concerned, and it scared him so much that he doesn’t want to come forward. His mom doesn’t want to come forward. His dad doesn’t want to come. None of his family wants to be a part of this," the man said. “If you go in the streets, if you say somebody is snitching, it will enrage people who are from the streets, and they target and get merit for targeting people who snitch. So if your face is on one of these snitching videos. You could be targeted, you could possibly be targeted for gang violence."
The rapper responsible for the video said he made money in Jacksonville and is tied into the street scene. He now lives in Maryland.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said the video could be dangerous, because it threatens the safety of the students.
"I'd suggest they go to the principal. Let them know about this. Let school officials know," Smith said. "I'm sure the School Board Police Department will have the video also. They may want to do an investigation and get with the students and their parents also.”
Attorney Gene Nichols said it's hard to see anything illegal about the video.
“Your initial reaction is that there's got to be something illegal about this, but as you go through the different statutes and go through different possibilities, it's hard to come up with something underneath the Florida statutes in order to either criminally prosecute or civilly go after this person who made this video,” Nichols said. “It's right at a fine line”
The video was posted on YouTube Wednesday and had more than 3,000 views before it was pulled.
The School Board anti-gang unit said it wants to protect the students in the video.
Other similar videos by the same rapper about other cities have not been pulled off the Internet.