Mass texts sent to black Americans across several states telling them they have been selected as slaves to “pick cotton” are being investigated by multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
The texts, delivered using anonymous mobile provider apps like TextNow from area codes in at least 25 different states, were sent out after President-elect Donald Trump won the election on Tuesday night, BBC reported.
While not all of the texts were worded the same, the theme was “consistent,” according to NBC News:
One text obtained by the outlet read, “Greetings! You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 AM November 13, 2024 SHARP with your belongings.”
“Our Team will send you over in a Brown boat. Be prepared to be searched. Please don’t bring any sharp items and no firearms. See you soon GROUP E,” the message concluded.
A message sent to another person told them that their “Executive Slaves” would be picking them up in a van to bring them to the “plantation.”
TextNow confirmed that they discovered that one or more accounts were using the messaging app “in violation of its terms of service” and disabled them.
“We do not condone the use of our service to send harassing or spam messages and will work with the authorities to prevent these individuals from doing so in the future,” the company said in a statement to NBC.
In a statement to BBC, the FBI said that they are “aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.”
The messages appear to have mostly gone to college students and younger.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) claimed that the messages were a result of Trump’s win.
“These actions are not normal,” Derrick Johnson, the group’s CEO said. “These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results.”
People on social media have also begun speculating on how the mass texts may be related to Trump’s win, with one X user named Mark Stevenson questioning if “somebody with a democratic campaign listserv decided to use a vpn and send out texts messages to rile up folks with racist rhetoric to try and pin it on Trump”:
An anti-Trump X user, Carly Kiley, said, “This is the America you voted for and it’s been ONE DAY”:
While some believe that the messages have something to do with Trump, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “The campaign has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages.”
The number of messages sent out is unclear, but it is thought to be in the hundreds.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel denounced the offensive texts in a statement, saying, “These messages are unacceptable.”
“That’s why our Enforcement Bureau is already investigating and looking into them alongside federal and state law enforcement,” she added. “We take this type of targeting very seriously.”