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The incidents occurred in the Lower Merion School District on Thursday, Nov. 7, according to a school district news release. Six students at the middle school level received the message.
"The racist nature of these text messages is extremely disturbing, made even more so by the fact that children have been targeted," acting Superintendent Megan Shafer said in the news release. "While the source of these messages has not been determined, we want to unequivocally state that racist language is unacceptable in our schools and will not be tolerated."
Shafer mentioned that "almost identical text messages have been received by people in other states, according to news reports from various outlets."
The text messages were reported to the Lower Merion Township Police Department for further investigation, the news release states. The school district also offered support to any students who received one of the messages, asking them to reach out to the Counseling Department for help.
Students at a school district in Nyack, New York were also targets of the racist text messages, according to previous Daily Voice reporting.
Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission commented on these text messages showing up around the US.
"The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter," the agency posted on X, formerly Twitter. "As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities."
"These messages are unacceptable," FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a news release. "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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