UCCS is joining an FBI case investigating racially motivated text messages that were sent from unrecognized phone numbers to Black people across America after a student received one.
Following the election, Black children, students and professionals nationwide were sent racist texts, with some messages referencing slavery and “picking cotton.” Deputy Chief of Police Clay Garner said a Black UCCS student had reported receiving one of the messages, which prompted campus administration to send out an email notifying the community.
Reports have come from at least 30 states and have targeted members of the community, according to the Nov. 14 email. It’s still not clear who sent the messages, and there’s no complete list of whom they were sent to.
New York’s attorney general said in a Nov. 7 press release that the racist messages appear to be targeting Black and brown individuals, including students, and may include personal information about the recipient such as their name or location.
The campus police investigative unit is working with the Office of Institutional Equity, the Department of Public Safety and the FBI to find out who did it. “During the investigation, they have learned that [the message] was coming out of Chicago on a spoofed phone,” Garner said.
Because the text was coming from a false phone number, authorities are unsure what their next moves are. According to CNN, at least some of the messages were sent in a widespread, coordinated effort through the app TextNow, making them harder to trace.
The company’s Trust & Safety team disabled the related accounts within less than an hour of becoming aware of it, according to the article.
“These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country,” President of the NAACP Derrick Johnson said in a press release.
OIE has a strict non-discrimination policy, and reporting any violation is mandatory by all UCCS affiliates.
“If you have received this or any message of this kind, it is essential that you report it. The Department of Public Safety is gathering these reports for an open case,” said Laura Emmot, associate vice chancellor of institutional equity.
Students, staff and faculty who have received a discriminatory message can report it to campus police at 719-255-3111, the CU Ethics line or to OIE.
Photo courtesy of UCCS Photography Database.