Federal authorities are looking into disturbing and racist text messages that call on black people to return to slavery. The messages were sent from unknown numbers to black people across the country.
News 3 spoke to Jaron Picquet, an Old Dominion University student, who received the offensive text message.
It's a text message no one can prepare themselves to receive. Picquet says he received a text said:
"Now that Trump has won, that means all Blacks aka the 'N word' will be reporting to the cotton field at 4am sharp. See you then."
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Picquet says he was deeply offended when he received the text.
"I think this is racist. That is pure hatred," Picquet said. "I was a little creeped out because there are several vans that come on campus. What if that’s the van. It’s creepy,"
Just hours after the Presidential Election results were announced, black people from across the country received offensive messages like the one below:
“Greetings, You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready with all your belongings. The executive slaves will come pick you up in a brown van, be prepared to be searched down upon arrival to the plantation.”
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It is unclear who exactly is behind the messages. Cyber security expert Len Gonzales those who received the texts may have had their information leaked.
"Something obviously happened where somebody got a hold of a database with a list of a lot of people and sent it to a specific demographic," Gonzales said. These types of numbers can’t be tracked and often multiple legitimate entities can use the same number as well."
Picquet says he responded the number that sent him the racist text, but says he never got a response.
"I was like who are you, why would you say this and then I called," Picquet said.
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News 3 also spoke to Gaylene Kanoyton with the Hampton NAACP Chapter about the disturbing texts. She believes it was a result of the election.
"To have a text message that relates to slavery only takes us back to not having any rights," Kanoyton said. "You have certain groups that feel empowered that they can do this. The NAACP has asked the FBI to do a thorough investigation on who’s sending out these text messages."
The State Attorney General's Office and the FBI both say they are aware of the text messages and condemn them.
If you receive a similar text, they urge you to call your local Law Enforcement or call the 1-800-CALL-FBI
