The FBI issued a statement on Friday saying that a string of racist and threatening text messages, originally reported in Black communities after the presidential election, have also been seen in Hispanic and LGBTQ+ communities, including high school students.
The investigation has now expanded to include reports of deportation threats and references to re-education camps. According to the FBI, the messages sent via text and email differ in language, but many contain disturbing references to slavery, such as telling recipients they had been "selected to pick cotton on a plantation."
The agency's investigation now includes complaints from individuals who reported being told they were chosen for deportation or forced relocation to re-education camps. The FBI emphasized that while they have not received reports of violence resulting from these messages, they are taking the matter seriously, collaborating with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to address the threats.
The Southern Poverty Law Center condemned the messages, with president and CEO Margaret Huang calling the texts sent to Black students a "public spectacle of hatred and racism that makes a mockery of our civil rights history."
Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), also weighed in, criticizing the rhetoric promoted by President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign for emboldening hate speech. Johnson connected the post-election harassment to the inflammatory language used by Trump, particularly around anti-immigrant rhetoric and his promises of mass deportations.
The president-elect has repeatedly expressed anti-immigration views and has promised to carry out mass deportations of possibly millions of immigrants, linking them to criminality. He has described the United States as "a garbage can for the world" due to illegal border crossings, accused migrants of "poisoning the blood of our country," and recounted unfounded tales of them eating people's pets in Springfield, Ohio.
The Trump transition team has denied any involvement with the messages, according to Axios. Spokesperson Steven Cheung stated last week that the campaign had "absolutely nothing to do with these text messages," but the FBI continues to investigate. Authorities encourage recipients of these messages to report them to the FBI, as they continue to evaluate the scope and impact of the threats.
While the investigation is still ongoing, the disturbing nature of these messages highlights the ongoing challenges around hate speech and racism in the aftermath of a divisive election. Recipients of the threatening messages can report them to the FBI.
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