6 hours Ago By USA TODAY
The FBI says a new slew of offensive and racist text messages have targeted members of the LGBTQ+ and Hispanic communities, as well as high school students. The new wave of texts and emails have told recipients they have been selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp, . The development comes after another slate of texts were sent to last week, with the messages using racist references to the era of U.
S. slavery. The FBI says it is in contact with the Justice Department among other federal authorities regarding the text messages.
“Although we have not received reports of violent acts stemming from these offensive messages, we are evaluating all reported incidents and engaging with the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division,” the statement said. Here is what we know. The original texts were sent out on Nov.
6, the same day now-President elect Donald Trump was declared the winner of his race with Vice President Kamala Harris. The messages varied in detail, but followed the same basic script, saying the recipient had "been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation." As of now, it still is unclear who sent the messages and how they were sent.
Some of the messages claimed to have come from “A Trump supporter," but that has not been verified. Students from Clemson University in South Carolina, Ohio State, the University of Alabama and other schools reported receiving the offensive texts. Reports of high school students receiving the same types of texts were also recorded.
Mary Banks, who has a 16-year-old daughter in Columbus, Ohio, told that her daughter and some of her friends received similar messages. Columbus NAACP President Nana Watson , part of the USA TODAY Network, that she believes the text messages are a hate crime. "This is racism at its highest," Watson said.
The FBI asks that anyone who has received these types of messages to report the details to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.
, Columbus Dispatch.
