Officials and universities across several U.S. states condemned racist text messages sent to Black residents on Wednesday.
The messages, which were nearly identical, told recipients they had been “selected for cotton picking.” The FBI acknowledged the situation, stating it was aware of the “offensive and racist text messages” and was in communication with the Justice Department and other federal agencies.
The texts were received in states such as Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Ohio.
The NAACP’s President Derrick Johnson condemned the messages, calling them part of an “alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric.”
The texts were sent from numbers with area codes from at least 25 states, with many numbers disconnected by Thursday or directed to voicemail with a TextNow user message.
TextNow, a service that lets users create free phone numbers, said it shut down accounts used to send the racist messages and pledged to cooperate with authorities.
According to reports, one of the individuals who sent the messages, dismissed it as a prank. Other requests for comment went unanswered.
Various authorities, including the Virginia and New York Attorney General’s offices, condemned the messages.
New York’s Letitia James urged recipients to report the texts to her office.
The Atlanta Police Department acknowledged the situation but was not investigating, while advising residents to report suspicious messages.
Several schools and universities reported that students had received the texts, including Clemson University, the University of Alabama, Ohio State University, and Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania.
Montgomery County, Maryland, confirmed that law enforcement and the FBI were aware of the messages, and some areas considered them low-level threats.
Recipients of the texts, including residents in Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale, expressed fear and confusion. Devereaux Adams from Atlanta said he felt “afraid and hurt,” unsure how the sender obtained his contact information. Monet Miller, also from Atlanta, said the message left her shaken, particularly given its timing post-election. Corryn G. Freeman of Fort Lauderdale shared her anger and fear, believing the sender targeted her specifically as a Black woman. After sharing her experience on social media, Freeman learned that two friends’ children had also received similar racist messages.
