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The Trump campaign has strongly denied any association with the offensive messages
Black Americans across the US have reported receiving racist text messages that threaten to send them to “plantations to pick cotton.”
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the FBI and local authorities were investigating the offensive notifications, which were received by people in at least a dozen states.
Several messages, received primarily by black college students, claimed recipients would be picked up and forced into labor.
Alyse McCall, an 18-year-old student at the University of Alabama, told of a text saying a van would collect her to “report to the nearest plantation.” Her mother, Arleta, said the incident left her daughter shaken, describing the message as “terrifying” and expressing concern over an apparent increase in public racism.
“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department,” the agency confirmed in a statement.
Civil rights advocates have called for more stringent data protection, concerned that loose data-sharing by political campaigns or contractors may have allowed personal information to be exploited for intimidation.
Some of the texts have reportedly claimed affiliation with US President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, though his team has forcefully denied involvement. “The campaign has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages,” Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the Washington Post, labeling suggestions of a connection “asinine.”
The messages reportedly went beyond college campuses, with high school students in some states also receiving them.
The authorities have not yet identified the sources behind the texts, while the investigation in the matter is ongoing.
