Months after a wave of racist text messages that targeted Black students were sent across the U.S., including in Nevada, the Nevada attorney general’s office has repeatedly declined to release any investigative updates.
Thus far, it’s not clear how many state residents were targeted, the content of the messages received or where the investigation stands because Attorney General Aaron Ford’s staff has denied repeated requests for records related to the investigation.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal submitted a formal records request on Nov. 12 for correspondence related to the messages and copies of any actual messages the agency may possess.
Ford’s office acknowledged the request a week later, issuing a blanket denial.
The office “has identified records that may not be released because the requested records are part of an on-going criminal investigation and release would jeopardize law enforcement information,” according to the denial letter.
The Review-Journal received the same denial after resubmitting the request earlier this month. Last week, the attorney general’s office also declined to comment when asked for any investigative updates.
But Review-Journal Chief Legal Officer Benjamin Lipman said there is no categorical exemption under Nevada law that allows law enforcement to withhold public records simply because they may be relevant to an ongoing investigation.
“In this case, there seems to be no legitimate rationale for withholding communications that have already been the subject of nation-wide reporting,” he said.
Ford has previously discussed the messages in news releases.
“Our office has been made aware of vile, racist messages being sent to Nevada residents which reference enslavement and forced labor,” Ford’s office wrote on Nov. 7. “Due to the morally abhorrent and extremely racist nature of the messages, we will not publicly share the specific messages that have been received.”
Specifics, however, emerged in media reports.
CNN published a message sent to a New Jersey resident.
The messages addressed the Black woman by name, telling her she was selected to “pick cotton” at a plantation and to be on the lookout for “executive slave catchers” who would pick her up.
The Associated Press reported that some of the messages had referenced President Donald Trump’s incoming administration. His campaign said it had “absolutely nothing to do with these text messages.”
Ford’s office said it was “working with law enforcement and other partners to probe into the source of what appear to be robotext messages.”
The FBI and the Federal Communication Commission announced investigations between federal and state law enforcement agencies after the initial racist messages emerged.
The FBI said the scope had expanded later in November.
“The text message recipients have now expanded to high school students, as well as both the Hispanic and LGBTQIA+ communities,” the federal agency said. “Some recipients reported being told they were selected for deportation or to report to a re-education camp. The messages have also been reported as being received via email communication.”
It wasn’t clear if any Nevadans also were targeted.
The local FBI office last week declined to comment on any possible updates to the investigations.
The “What Are They Hiding?” column was created to educate Nevadans about transparency laws, inform readers about Review-Journal coverage being stymied by bureaucracies and shame public officials into being open with the hardworking people who pay all of government’s bills. Were you wrongly denied access to public records? Share your story with us at whataretheyhiding@reviewjournal.com.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
