NY Attorney General condemns text message campaign threatening Black students

November 8, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

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NEW YORK AND NATIONWIDE — A RASH OF THREATENING TEXT MESSAGES targeting Black and Brown New Yorkers received a harsh response from State Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, Nov. 7. Attorney General James, who is the first woman and first Black person to hold the state’s top law enforcement position, said that people across the country are receiving messages from unknown, anonymous senders claiming that they have been “selected to pick cotton at [their] nearest plantation,” or “chosen to be a slave.” These texts appear to target Black and Brown individuals, in some cases pre-teens and students, and often include personal information about the recipient such as their name or location.

“The racist text messages targeting New Yorkers, including middle school, high school, and college students, are disgusting and unacceptable. I unequivocally condemn any attempt to intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their families. I encourage anyone in New York who has received an anonymous, threatening text message to report it to my office,” James stated.

The Office of the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau can be reached via phone at 800-771-7755, email at [email protected], or the webpage for filing complaints at ag.ny.gov/file-complaint/civil-rights.

The Council on American Islamic Affairs (CAIR), the nation’s Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, also denounced the text messaging attacks reported in Alabama, Ohio, North Carolina and other states. “CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry,” said National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell.

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