Denver resident Jirah Lawrence says she was stunned to look at her phone Wednesday night and see the text message that popped up on her screen.
“Initially I was like, ‘is this a joke, what’s going on?'” Lawrence said. “And then when I heard other folks across the country were getting it, I was like, ‘oh okay, that’s ridiculous.'”
Lawrence and dozens of other Black people across the U.S. received a similar message on their phones in the days after the election . The message tells the recipient they have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation, to be ready by a certain time to be taken in a van and that they will undergo an intense search upon arrival.
“Then I kind of start freaking out a little bit because I do live alone, and I was just like, ‘Okay, do I have to question my safety?'” Lawrence asked herself.
“First it started with my nephew,” said Rev. Anthony Grier, senior pastor with True Spirit Baptist Church in Colorado Springs.