FBI probes racist texts targeting Black Americans nationwide

Authorities are investigating racist text messages sent to black Americans across the country instructing them to report to a plantation “to pick cotton.” Recipients included school and college students in states such as Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The FBI confirmed awareness of the offensive messages and stated it is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities. The messages appear to have begun the day after the election. The Trump campaign denied any connection to the messages, with a spokesman stating the campaign had “absolutely nothing to do with these text messages.”

The source and total number of messages sent remain unclear. A mother in Indiana shared a copy of the texts her high-school-aged daughter received, which stated the daughter had “been selected to become a slave at your nearest plantation” and would be “picked up in a white van” for “searched thoroughly once you’ve reached your destination.” The woman, requesting anonymity, described the messages as “extremely, extremely alarming” and expressed feeling “really vulnerable.” She suggested the timing, the day after the election, indicated a deliberate effort.

Hailey Welch, a University of Alabama student, told a student newspaper that several students on campus had also received the messages, noting that recipients were “stressed out, and scared because I didn’t know what was happening.”

The messages varied in wording but generally instructed recipients to report to a “plantation” or wait for pickup in a van, referencing “slave” labor. Texts originated from numbers with area codes in at least 25 different states.

TextNow, a mobile provider allowing users to create free phone numbers, confirmed one or more of its accounts were used to send the messages in violation of its terms of service. The company disabled the accounts within an hour of discovering the misuse and stated it would cooperate with authorities.

The NAACP condemned the messages, attributing them to an increase in hateful rhetoric from racist groups feeling emboldened following the election results. The group’s chief executive, Derrick Johnson, stated the messages represented an “alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric” and stoking “the flames of fear.”

Jessica Rosenworcel, chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, stated the messages were “unacceptable” and that the agency took the targeting “very seriously.”

Law enforcement officials in several states acknowledged the messages and encouraged residents to report them. Nevada’s attorney general’s office is working to “probe into the source of what appear to be robotext messages.” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill stated that investigators traced some messages to a virtual private network based in Poland, but found no original source, indicating the messages could have originated from anywhere. The Indiana mother responding to this information said it did not make the situation safer or better.