‘I‘m fearful:’ Racist text messages being sent to black residents in Jacksonville and across US’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Black Jacksonville residents are receiving racist text messages suggesting they’ll be put back into slavery.

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There have been reports of similar messages being sent throughout the country.

One of the text messages was sent to Jacksonville resident Charmaine Green’s 15-year-old son. She told Action News Jax she had just been reading reports of the racist texts being sent in other parts of the country when her son showed her his phone and revealed he’d received one too.

“He did feel uncomfortable. I felt uncomfortable. My son is only 15 years old,” said Green.

The texts all follow a similar theme, referring to the recipient by name and telling them they’ve been selected as a cotton picker at a plantation and will be picked up by ‘executive slaves’.

Green said she was shocked when she read the message.

“I’m fearful because I’m like, okay, so who knows my son’s information? Where could they have received this information from? And then of course I was saddened. Saddened that someone would take the time out and send this, you know, this type of information to anyone, let alone a 15-year-old kid,” said Green.

Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax the agency has received multiple tips regarding other racist messages received locally and JSO’s Intelligence Unit is investigating.

For Green, she said she’s hopeful authorities can track down whoever is behind the racist messages and hold them to account if it’s determined they violated any laws.

“I’m praying. I hope they do, because my concern is okay, adults, yeah that’s wrong. I get it, but adults can handle it a little more. When you’re dealing with children it’s kind of hard for them to process that information and understand what’s going on,” said Green.

Some of the messages published by outlets across the nation also include signatures implying they were sent by the Trump campaign or even Trump himself. Action News Jax was told by a Trump campaign official, that the campaign has absolutely nothing to do with the messages.

The FBI provided the following statement regarding the messages, which states the following:

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. As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities.

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