News reports say Black people—including children—in about half of the 50 US states recently received racist text messages stating that they had been ‘selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.’ These mass texts were sent from unrecognised numbers a day after Donald Trump declared victory in the 5 November US presidential election. Some messages referenced recipients by name and included ‘Trump supporter’ as a signature.
TextNow, a service that allows people to send text messages for free, said several users had sent out these messages and that it had shut down those accounts.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) condemned the incident and blamed Trump’s team. However, the president-elect’s campaign denied involvement.
The FBI announced it was investigating and is in touch with the US Department of Justice and other federal authorities.