Multiple people wrote to WRAL News, saying they received racist and threatening text messages. In them, the messenger tells them they’ve been “selected to pick cotton.”
The texts went out to Black people before and after Election Day across the country:
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Greetings! You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 p.m. sharp with all your belongings. Friday, November the 8th our execution slaves will come get you in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched down once you’ve entered the plantation. You’re in plantation group A. Have a great day see you soon!
While certain details in the message differ, like the time and date, the messages are very similar.
“It's just a lot of racism. I'm Black, so I'm scared. I'm not going to lie,” one viewer told WRAL News.
This woman worries for her safety, so WRAL News is not showing her face or sharing her name. She wrote into WRAL News after receiving the text Wednesday.
“I just wrote you guys because I didn't know if it was real,” she said.
Clemson University in South Carolina put out a statement saying the phone numbers have been determined to be associated with online spoofing sites.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the office has not received any reports of the messages.
The Attorney General’s Office provided WRAL News with a statement.
"Our office is working with federal and industry partners to investigate the source of these robotexts," the statement reads. "We encourage North Carolinians who receive these abusive messages to report them to our office (1-877-5-NO-SCAM or ncdoj.gov/complaint) and/or local law enforcement."
WRAL News did not immediately hear back from the Raleigh Police Department.
The Virginia Attorney General condemned the messages – telling people to contact local law enforcement and the FBI, if they believe they’re in danger.
In a separate message to the Fayetteville woman, the unknown sender goes on to list the White House phone number and writes “Donald J Trump approves this message.”
She said many people in her family also received the texts, including her underage daughter.
“It says something about she would be strip searched … that's very concerning when she's a child,” she said.
She said is particularly concerned about how the sender got access to her contact information.
That’s a concern also shared by Sam Fant. She wanted to share her story with WRAL News. The Georgia resident said she received the text just moments after hearing about the trend.
“I think what really got me is that it had my name, my whole name, in the message,” Fant said. “In the back of my mind, like, how did they get my information? How did they know my name? How do they know I'm Black?”
At the end of the message Fant received, it reads “Thanks for making AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. NO NEGRO LEFT BEHIND."
“That connection right there is it already puts a bad taste like in your mouth,” Fant said.
While the timing and nature of the texts seem to have political motives, it’s not clear who sent out the texts or why.
She responded to the message. The unknown sender sent back the N-word.
Fant said she is being more alert.
“I've been just trying to process it and not do too much, but at the same time, keeping it in the back of my head and being aware, being careful, watching my surroundings and making sure that I'm safe,” she said.