US authorities are investigating after several people, including children and students, reported receiving racist text messages from unknown phone numbers in recent days.

The texts were reported in states including Maryland, New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan and South Carolina. CNN has reached out to state officials for additional information about the text messages.

“The FBI is aware of offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals across the country and is in contact with the Department of Justice and other federal authorities regarding this matter,” the FBI said in a statement. statement THURSDAY.

Officials with the Montgomery County, Maryland, school board say local law enforcement and the FBI are aware that people, including their students, are receiving the texts, and that “law enforcement order in some regions announced that they considered the messages to be low-level threats,” according to a report. Montgomery County Public Schools statement.

“We recognize that the emotional and psychological impact on our students, staff and especially our communities of color is profound. We stand in solidarity with those who feel targeted and hurt by these actions,” we read in the school board’s press release.

Talaya Jones, a black woman who lives in Piscataway, New Jersey, said she was “shocked” to receive a text message Wednesday informing her that she had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” she told CNN on Thursday.

The text also refers to “executive slave sensors,” according to a screenshot Jones shared with CNN.

“My first reaction was probably disbelief, like I thought it was like a joke,” said Jones, who forwarded the text message to loved ones. “It just shows that we haven’t come as far as everyone thought we would as a nation, from the days when slavery still existed,” Jones said.

Virginia News Station WVEC-TV said one of his photographers, Sam Burwell, received a text message from an unknown phone number, addressing him by name, and like the text Jones received, the text told him he had been “selected to pick cotton from the nearest plantation.”

Burwell said in an article published by WVEC-TV that he was concerned about receiving a text message a day after the election.

“I feel like it’s a spam message (and) I’m disappointed with the message they’re sending a day after the election,” Burwell said.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Thursday that the “racist and vile text messages” have also spread to her state, she wrote. in a statement via X.

“I have asked the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation to thoroughly investigate the origins of these disgusting texts that aim only to divide us,” Murrill said, urging anyone concerned to report these messages to his office .

Officials in Virginia and Washington, D.C., told CNN on Thursday that they are also looking into the racist text messages.

The Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office is “aware of the racist text messages sent to District residents and unequivocally condemns them,” said Communications Director Gabriel Shoglow-Rubenstein.

“Anyone receiving these messages should contact our Civil Rights Section by calling 202-727-3400 or emailing [email protected]. If you believe your safety is in danger, please contact local law enforcement,” he said in a statement to CNN.

The Virginia Attorney General’s Office is also “aware of these text messages and unequivocally condemns them,” press secretary Chloe Smith said, noting that “anyone who feels threatened should not hesitate to contact law enforcement.” local orders as well as the local FBI. outdoor office. »

CNN has contacted the Federal Communications Commission for comment.

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