Ian Smith was doing homework in his school’s computer lab the night after the election when he says he received a text message ordering black people to report to plantations for slavery. He wasn’t alone: the same message appeared on phones across the United States.
“It’s just like, oh, this is a joke, but you all feel comfortable enough to say this joke. That’s a problem. That’s the troubling part,” Smith said.
The FBI says it is aware of the reports and is investigating them with the Justice Department and other authorities.
“This is potentially a hate crime and it’s even possible you could call this a racially motivated violent extremist threat,” said Ken Gray, a former FBI special agent in charge.
Some messages related to the incoming Trump administration.
A campaign spokesperson said: “The campaign has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages.”
The messages sometimes use the names of the recipients, which raises questions about how this is done.
Experts point to data breaches that contain sensitive information.
“If we take pieces from each of these data breaches and compare them to things like publicly available profiles on social media, we can distinguish certain characteristics, whether it’s gender or race,” said Nikolas Behar, adjunct professor of cybersecurity at the University from San. Diego.
Authorities urge anyone who receives these texts to report them.
“Really, other than being careful about what messages you view and what text messages you open, there’s very little you can do. There are no apps that can protect you from receiving such a message,” says Gray.