Black individuals throughout the nation have been getting racist texts about slave plantations

Black individuals all through the nation, in additional than 20 states, have been getting racist textual content messages that get them organized to report back to a plantation for slave labor, and quite a few different retailers. The texts reference “slave catchers” and “choosing cotton,” along with warning the recipients that they are going to be searched upon arrival.

These hate-filled messages have been obtained by each children and adults. The “texts seem like focusing on Black and Brown people, together with college students,” New York’s legal professional normal Letitia James mentioned. Numerous AG workplaces from different states have additionally issued statements.

The texts all come from unknown cellphone numbers and commenced ramping after the election on Tuesday. NAACP president Derrick Johnson mentioned that “these messages symbolize an alarming improve in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist teams throughout the nation, who now really feel emboldened to unfold hate and stoke the flames of concern that many people are feeling after Tuesday’s election outcomes.”

The mom of a College of Alabama scholar who obtained one of many messages mentioned that “it’s eerie that it’s the day after the election. It’s eerie that it got here to my daughter’s private cellphone. It’s eerie that it’s solely going to Black college students.”

A spokesperson for Donald Trump’s presidential marketing campaign wrote in a press release that it “has completely nothing to do with these textual content messages.” The FBI in a press release, noting that it’s been in “contact with the Justice Division and different federal authorities on the matter.”

It stays unclear who despatched the texts and the way they did it. The messages focused individuals of shade, suggesting that the senders had biographical data on the recipients. Most of the messages had been despatched by way of TextNow, a free app that gives cellphone numbers, texting and calling providers.

TextNow informed CNN that it believes it is a “widespread, coordinated assault.” The service lets individuals enroll anonymously and sends texts by way of randomly-generated cellphone numbers. It says it has been busy “quickly disabling the associated accounts.” The corporate can be “working alongside our trade companions to uncover extra particulars and proceed to watch patterns to actively block any new accounts making an attempt to ship these messages.”

If in case you have obtained considered one of these horrific texts, lawmakers encourage you to achieve out to your state’s AG or e-mail . It’s at the moment unknown how many individuals have obtained the messages.