The FBI is investigating a series of racist text messages that were sent out to numerous people from an unknown number this week. The messages included the recipient’s name and had references to “picking cotton.”
The messages were reported in several states, including New York, the District of Columbia, California, Nevada, Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia,Kansas and Georgia. New York Attorney General Letitia James said on X that they appeared to be "targeting Black and Brown individuals, including students." The language used in the texts is varied, but they all contain lines telling the recipient to report to a plantation for work.
It is not immediately clear who sent the messages or how many people have received them. CBS News reported that several of the messages were sent from area codes across 25 states and several of the phone numbers had already been disconnected. A few of the numbers were traced back to TextNow, a text messaging platform that allows users to create anonymous, temporary phone numbers for free.
“TextNow has uncovered that one or more of our accounts was used to send text messages in violation of our terms of service,” the company said in a statement provided to Yahoo News. “As soon as we became aware, our Trust & Safety team acted quickly and disabled the related accounts in less than an hour.”
TextNow added that it was cooperating with authorities to investigate the source of the messages and said they’ve already discovered that they were sent through multiple phone carriers across the U.S. Several screenshots shared on social media show that some of the texts mention Donald Trump winning the election, but a motive for the texts has not been determined.
Yahoo News reached out to several people who claimed to have received a text but none could be reached at time of publication.
NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson issued a statement on Thursday condemning the texts.
“We've said it before and we'll say it again — there is no place for hate in a democracy,” Johnson said. “The threat — and the mention of slavery in 2024 — is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that dates back to before the Jim Crow era, and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life, liberty and happiness.”
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have publishedstatements saying they are aware of the mass texts and are collaborating with federal and local authorities to identify the source.