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LGBTQ+ and Latinx people are reportedly receiving hateful text messages and emails from anonymous trolls, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
This new round of texts follows an initial wave of anti-Black messages that people in at least 32 states and D.C. reported receiving in the wake of the election, per CBS News. Many of the texts in question used similar language informing the recipient that they had been “selected for cotton picking.” In a press release issued Friday, the FBI stated that high schoolers are now receiving these messages, and that LGBTQ+ and Latinx people are now receiving targeted texts as well.
“Some recipients reported being told they were selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp,” the government agency wrote. The FBI stated that the messages have not been accompanied by reports of violence, though it said it was “evaluating all reported incidents” and engaging with the Department of Justice, as well as other law enforcement partners. It’s unclear, however, whether or not the source of this most recent round of texts is the same as the first wave of post-election messages.
Diana Brier, a 41-year-old lesbian, told the New York Times that she received a homophobic text message last Sunday. According to Brier, the text instructed her to check in to be transported to an “LGB reeducation camp,” additionally referencing Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Brier told the Times that the fact that the messages were sent so soon after the election was “not a coincidence.”
“There’s a lot of concern among my queer friends about what’s going to happen to us,” she said.
Indeed, although Trump has disavowed any connection with this text campaign, he spent his presidential campaign stoking the flames of anti-LGBTQ+ hate. He has promised to pass a federal ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as well as “keep men out of women’s sports” and cut funding for “any school pushing… radical gender ideology.”
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