USA FBI investigates racist mass text messages after US election
The FBI is investigating racist text messages that were sent to numerous people in several states during the week of the US presidential election. "The FBI is aware of offensive and racist text messages that were sent to individuals across the country," the US Federal Bureau of Investigation stated. They are in contact with the Department of Justice and other federal agencies regarding this matter.
09.11.2024, 07:08
SDA
Several US media outlets reported a number of cases in which black youth, students and professionals - as well as children - received messages from unknown numbers that followed a similar pattern.
Recipients were often addressed by name, told they had been "selected to pick cotton on a plantation" and told to be ready at a certain time to be picked up by "slavers". Some of the messages also contained a reference to President-elect Donald Trump.
White House condemns the incidents
A spokesperson for the Republican emphasized to the "New York Times" that they had "absolutely nothing to do with these text messages". The White House strongly condemned the incidents. "Racism has no place in our country," several US media quoted a spokeswoman as saying.
The president of the civil rights organization NAACP, Derrick Johnson, expressed his anger. The news was "the sad reality of electing a president who has tolerated and in some cases even incited hatred in the past". It is "an alarming example of the increasing spread of vile and hateful rhetoric by racist groups across the country who now feel emboldened".
During his election campaign, Trump had repeatedly used racist stereotypes, for example by spreading false accusations against immigrants, most recently from Haiti in particular, and exaggerating crime statistics. He repeatedly portrayed his Democratic challenger Kamala Harris - a woman with Jamaican and Indian roots - as "stupid" and "lazy".
