Maryland AG condemns "unacceptable" racist text messages sent to Black residents

BALTIMORE - Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is calling racist text messages targeting Black residents in Maryland and several other states "horrific" and "unacceptable."

Brown says his office has received multiple reports of those text messages being sent to Black Maryland residents, including school-aged children, in a nationwide campaign. Brown is urging those who have received the text messages to report them.

"These messages are horrific, unacceptable, and will not be tolerated," Attorney General Brown said. "If you have been sent one of these texts, I am asking for you to please come forward and report it. I am committed to protecting the rights of all Marylanders. There is no home for hate in Maryland."  

The texts were received by people in states including Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Ohio, CBS News reports.

The FBI said in a statement to CBS News that it was aware of "the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country" and said it is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities.  

Some of the messages, which had almost identical language, told the recipient they had been "selected for cotton picking," according to CBS News.

Maryland's Office of Attorney General said several reports they've received tell recipients to "board a bus to be transported to a plantation to work as a slave." 

"These messages appear to be part of a nationwide campaign and are horrific and unacceptable," Brown said. "There is no home for hate in Maryland."   

If you receive one of those text messages, you can file a complaint with the Maryland Attorney General's Civil Rights Division here or with the Maryland Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention here.