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Authorities in Bloomfield in Hartford County posted a statement on Facebook saying the school system condemns "any and all forms of racism, prejudice, or hate within our community."
Racist language, behavior, and rhetoric have no place in Bloomfield, and we are committed to ensuring that every member of our community feels safe, valued, and respected. In conjunction with the Bloomfield Police Department, we are actively responding to these incidents and will work with local, state, and federal authorities to assist in their investigation.
Students in Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, Ohio, and other states have reported receiving variations of the same message on Thursday, Nov. 7. The State Attorney of New York said they were targeted at Black and Brown children.
It's unclear how many school districts in Connecticut had students who received the message.
While the texts mention Donald Trump, a spokesman for the president-elect said in a statement that his campaign nor his administrative team had anything to do with them.
The Connecticut Senate Republican Caucus called the texts "abhorrent" and demanded answers and a transparent investigation.
“It’s abhorrent," the statement said. "Connecticut Senate Republicans condemn it in the strongest of terms. But what is state government doing about it? How are we pursuing the hate mongers? Are we? Is the Connecticut State Police working with the FBI to hold people accountable? Are meetings being held with local law enforcement? We need more information — and more transparency — from state government. We universally condemn the hate. But what, exactly, is being done about it?”
CNN reported that the messages were sent through the app TextNow, which allows users to send texts anonymously.
The company told the news outlet that its engineers disabled the accounts that had sent the racist messages when they learned of the "widespread, coordinated attack."
Local, state, and federal police agencies including the FBI are investigating who sent the messages.
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said they were working with other agencies to determine who sent them.
“These messages are unacceptable," she said in a statement. "That’s why our Enforcement Bureau is already investigating and looking into them alongside federal and state law enforcement. We take this type of targeting very seriously.”
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