Holli Holliday’s inbox has been inundated with all types of texts lately, but she was particularly surprised by a message that came through Thursday.
It talked about going to a plantation, she said. Immediately, she blocked the sender and reported the message. But at that point, the president of Sisters Lead Sisters Vote hadn’t realized many others received similar texts.
Holliday logged onto social media, and started seeing some of the same messages posted over and over again. Many of them, Holliday said, include “very divisive, hateful, slurred language.”
Days after the election, D.C. residents and many others across the country said they’re getting spam text messages with racist language, prompting law enforcement investigations into where they’re coming from.
“I expect this is only the beginning of what we will see,” Holliday said. “I pray that we have enough leaders of civility that will stand in all the places to also counterbalance and to level set that this type of engagement is not OK.”
Some of the messages include references to working as a slave, and in one case, include a specific D.C. address.
One message, shared by the Instagram account Washingtonian Problems, tells the recipient that they’ve been selected “to be a house slave at Abingdon Plantation.” It urges people to report to an address near L’Enfant Plaza in Southwest at 5 a.m. the next morning.
“Our executive spaces will come get you in a Turquoise van, be prepared to be searched down once you enter the plantation grounds,” the message read. “You will be station at Plantation point L. Sincerely, Trump administration.”
It’s unclear exactly how many people have received that message, but a D.C. police spokesman said they’ve received several reports about it. D.C. police’s Office of Homeland Security Intelligence is investigating its origins.
In a statement, D.C. police said community members should treat the message as a scam text: copy the message and forward it to the Federal Trade Commission’s reporting system at 7726. They also recommend reporting the message as junk or spam, and submitting a report to the FTC online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office said it’s “aware of racist text messages being sent to District residents and condemns them unequivocally.” Anyone who gets such messages can call their civil rights division at 202-727-3400 or email OAGCivilRights@dc.gov.
Holliday, meanwhile, said while some people are taking screenshots of the messages they received, she’s similarly recommending that people block the sending number and report the incident.
WTOP has contacted spokespeople for Virginia and Maryland’s attorneys general to ask if they’ve received reports of residents getting similar messages.
The Office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement to WTOP that the messages “appear to be part of a nationwide campaign targeting Black people in the wake of the election.”
The AG also recommended Marylanders report the messages to “their local law enforcement agency to ensure that these hate messages are tracked and to the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division for evaluation.”
“These messages are horrific, unacceptable, and will not be tolerated,” said Brown. “I am committed to protecting the rights of all Marylanders. There is no home for hate in Maryland.”
WTOP news partner 7News reported another text message told recipients they’ve been picked to “serve in the house on the nearest plantation.” Some messages also included a slur or referenced the “Make America Great Again” slogan of President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign.
In Montgomery County, Maryland, the school system sent a letter to families Thursday saying students have received text messages with racist threats, The MoCo Show reported.
In a statement, the FBI said it encourages the public to report threats of physical violence to law enforcement.
“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter,” the FBI said.
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