FBI says bigoted text messages also sent to LGBTQ, Hispanic people

(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Friday that a spate of offensive text messages sent out in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential election win and apparently aimed at Black Americans had expanded to target Hispanic and LGBTQ people.

In a statement, the bureau said it was aware of the messages, many of which used ethnic slurs and instructed the recipients to pick cotton, a reference to past enslavement of Black people in the United States.

The FBI said on Friday that a new wave of messages were sent to Hispanics and LGBTQ people, with “some recipients reported being told they were selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp.”

The texts, some of which referred to Trump’s election win, drew widespread revulsion after several recipients shared them on social media last week.

Both federal and state authorities have said they are investigating. They have not said anything about who might be behind the messages or how many people have received them.

Some Black Americans have said they fear a rollback of civil rights after Trump, a Republican, won the Nov. 5 presidential election. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has pledged to end federal diversity and inclusion programs.

The Trump campaign has said it has nothing to do with the messages.

(Reporting by Raphael Setter, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)