International Courant
Officers in plenty of states are responding to reviews of racist texts residents have obtained within the days following the 2024 election.
The Virginia lawyer normal’s workplace instructed ABC Information it’s “conscious of those textual content messages and unequivocally condemns them.”
The workplace confirmed that the textual content language matches textual content reportedly obtained by an worker of ABC affiliate 13News Now in Norfolk, Virginia, which acknowledged: “You’ve got been chosen to choose cotton on the nearest plantation. Please be punctual at 12:00 p.m. carried out with you Our government slaves will come choose you up in a brown van. Be ready to be searched when you get to plantation group W.”
The workplace urges anybody who believes they’re being threatened to contact native legislation enforcement and the native FBI subject workplace. They may not verify or deny that an investigation was underway.
As of seven:00 PM ET Thursday, mobile phone customers in not less than 9 cities — New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Houston, Huntsville, Texas, Los Angeles, Norfolk, Virginia and Tuscaloosa, Alabama — reported receiving the messages.
New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James mentioned in a press release that her workplace is investigating the texts that she says have been “focused at New Yorkers, together with center faculty, highschool and faculty college students.”
“I unequivocally condemn any try and intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their households. I encourage anybody in New York who has obtained an nameless, threatening textual content message to report it to my workplace,” she mentioned within the assertion associated to her workplace’s reporting. civil rights grievance kind.
The North Carolina Division of Justice instructed ABC Information it’s working with federal and business companions to research the supply of the robotic texts.
The company additionally encourages North Carolina residents to report such texts to the state DOJ workplace and native legislation enforcement companies.
The FBI mentioned in a press release that it’s “conscious” of the suspicious messages and is “involved with the Division of Justice and different federal authorities concerning the matter.”
“As all the time, we encourage the general public to report threats of bodily violence to native legislation enforcement authorities,” the company mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Federal Communications Fee mentioned in a press release: “Our enforcement workplace is conscious of this and is investigating it together with federal and state legislation enforcement.”
Huge ‘disparaging’ texts have been additionally reported by native information media Ohio, Michigan, Alabama, Wisconsin And South Carolina.
In an internet assertion, police at Clemson College in South Carolina mentioned it had obtained reviews of scholars receiving textual content messages “containing derogatory language from unknown numbers.”
“These figures have been discovered to be linked to on-line spoofing websites. CUPD is actively investigating the matter and dealing with state companions to establish the supply of the messages,” the assertion mentioned.
The division mentioned there isn’t a proof of a reputable menace to members of the area people and likewise urged recipients to report the texts.
ABC Information’ Abby Cruz, Luke Barr and Emmanuelle Saliba contributed to this report.
Racist textual content messages reported in a number of states after Election Day
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