FBI probes racist texts telling black people to report to cotton-picking plantations

The FBI has launched an probe aft achromatic Americans were sent sickening texts telling them to study to cotton-picking plantations.

The racist messages were sent retired crossed the country, including to children reportedly arsenic young arsenic ten-years-old.

The anonymous texts were received successful astatine slightest a twelve states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Tennessee. 

They mostly addressed the recipient by sanction and utilized a akin code but varied successful wording.

Some instructed the recipient to amusement up astatine an code astatine a peculiar clip 'with your belongings,' to await postulation by 'executive slaves', portion others didn't see a location. 

Some of them mentioned the incoming statesmanlike administration.

It wasn't yet wide who was down the messages and determination was nary broad database of wherever they were sent. 

The FBI said it was successful interaction with the Justice Department connected the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts 'alongside national and authorities instrumentality enforcement.' 

The Ohio Attorney General's bureau besides said it was looking into the matter.

Tasha Dunham of Lodi, California, said her 16-year-old girl showed her 1 of the messages Wednesday evening earlier her hoops practice.

The substance not lone utilized her daughter's name, but it directed her to study to a 'plantation' successful North Carolina, wherever Dunham said they´ve ne'er lived. When they looked up the address, it was the determination of a museum.

'It was precise disturbing,' Dunham said. 'Everybody´s conscionable trying to fig retired what does this each mean for me? So, I decidedly had a batch of fearfulness and concern.'

Her girl initially thought it was a prank, but emotions are precocious pursuing Tuesday´s statesmanlike election, which Donald Trump won. Dunham and her household thought it could beryllium much nefarious and reported it to section instrumentality enforcement.

'I wasn't successful slavery. My parent wasn't successful slavery. But we're a mates of generations away. So, erstwhile you deliberation astir however brutal and atrocious slavery was for our people, it´s atrocious and concerning,' Dunham said.

About six mediate schoolhouse students successful Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, received the messages too, said Megan Shafer, acting superintendent of the Lower Merion School District.

'The racist quality of these substance messages is highly disturbing, made adjacent much truthful by the information that children person been targeted,' she wrote successful a missive to parents.

Grandmother Renee Glenn-Bryant was besides among the recipients. She told Fox2 the horrific messages are, 'uncalled for'.

Meanwhile connected TikTok, pupil Izellah Rainer described however she was near 'terrified and speechless' aft receiving 2 of the messages. 

Students astatine immoderate large universities, including Clemson successful South Carolina and the University of Alabama, said they received the messages. 

The Clemson Police Department said successful a connection that it had been notified of the 'deplorable racially motivated substance and email messages' and encouraged anyone who received 1 to study it.

Fisk University, a historically achromatic assemblage successful Nashville, Tennessee, issued a connection calling the messages that targeted immoderate of its students 'deeply unsettling.'

It urged calm and assured students that the texts apt were from bots oregon malicious actors with 'no existent intentions oregon credibility.'

Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel said Black students who are members of the organization's Missouri State University section received texts citing Trump´s triumph and calling them retired by sanction arsenic being 'selected to prime cotton' adjacent Tuesday.

Chapel said constabulary successful the southeastern Missouri metropolis of Springfield, location of the university, person been notified.

'It points to a well-organized and resourced radical that has decided to people Americans connected our location ungraded based connected the colour of our skin,' Chapel said successful a statement.

Nick Ludlum, a elder vice president for the wireless manufacture commercialized radical CTIA, said: 'Wireless providers are alert of these threatening spam messages and are aggressively moving to artifact them and the numbers that they are coming from.'

David Brody, manager of the Digital Justice Initiative astatine The Lawyers´ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that they aren´t definite who is down the messages but estimated they had been sent to much than 10 states, including astir Southern states, Maryland, Oklahoma and adjacent the District of Columbia. 

The district's Metropolitan Police unit said successful a connection that its quality portion was investigating the origins of the message.

Brody said a fig of civilian rights laws tin beryllium applied to hate-related incidents.

The leaders of respective different civilian rights organizations condemned the messages, including Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who said, 'Hate code has nary spot successful the South oregon our nation.'

'The menace - and the notation of slavery successful 2024 - is not lone profoundly disturbing, but perpetuates a bequest of evil that dates backmost to earlier the Jim Crow era, and present seeks to forestall Black Americans from enjoying the aforesaid state to prosecute life, liberty, and happiness,' said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson. 

'These actions are not normal. And we garbage to fto them beryllium normalized.'