The FBI on Friday said reports of racist and offensive text messages sent from anonymous phone numbers are now being sent to members of Latino and LGBTQ communities.
The FBI is investigating previous reports of dozens of racist texts sent to Black Americans telling them they have been “selected" to pick cotton "at the nearest plantation" immediately following last week's election.
The initial reports of racist texts last week included recipients who attend universities from California to South Carolina, with some sent via TextNow, a service compatible with untraceable, “burner” phone numbers.
The FBI on Friday said the texts from the initial reports were not identical but seemed to follow similar themes.
The agency said it's also sharing information on the expanding texts and emails with education institutions and faith leaders.
Persons:
Juan Proaño, Monèt Miller, Derrick Johnson, Proaño, LULAC, it's
Organizations:
FBI, U.S . Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, LULAC, League, United Latin, NAACP, stoke
Locations:
California, South Carolina, TextNow, Atlanta