KCK 14-year-old among many victimized in race-baiting post-election text scheme
WARNING: This report contains words and phrases from racist text messages that some might find disturbing.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kahmaree Dudley sat on his aunt’s couch surrounded by fall-themed decorations with his phone in his hand. On it was a text that his mother called disgusting. With a slight build and a quiet demeanor, he read the text aloud. His mother wanted people to know in its entirety what someone or some group is putting kids through.
The 14-year-old freshman was in class at Wyandotte High School on Thursday when he opened his phone and saw the text that had been sent the morning prior.
Only later did he and his mother learn an onslaught of similar texts had been hitting inboxes across the nation beginning on the day after the presidential election.
The text greeted him by name, and said he’d “been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” It gave a date and time — noon on Friday — and said a brown van would be picking him up.
Kahmaree took a screenshot and sent it to his mother, Lori Dudley. She immediately ed the school. The principal, school resource officer, and counselor all responded.
“They reassured him that he’s fine. Nobody can get in the school or come and get him at 12 to take him away in any brown van,” Lori said.
Kahmaree said he was not scared now, but for a moment, he was.
“I was like, I mean, they know my name, my number, they might know my address, where I live, where I stay,” Kahmaree said, thinking back to Thursday.
They were alarmed by how someone knew how to reach him. His name was spelled correctly, despite it being an unusual spelling. The phone is ed in his mother’s name, not his.
The worry for Kahmaree’s personal safety lessened when he and his mom realized it wasn’t directed specifically at him, but it still cuts deep.
“Just hearing plantation and thinking of your kids being taken away,” said Lori, describing her feelings about it.
The FBI, FCC and U.S. Department of Justice are investigating a slew of similar texts sent to Black adults and kids in at least 20 states, including Missouri and Kansas. Some of the children are as young as middle school age. Several universities, including Missouri State University, had swaths of students targeted. They started hitting inboxes the day after the election. Some ended with a reference to the sender being “a Trump er.”
The Missouri Information Analysis Center sent a bulletin to area schools on Thursday alerting them to the situation.
Kahmaree’s cousin in California got a similar text using his first a last name, sent to a phone number ed in his cousin’s mother’s name.
“It is not only emotional for him, but for me too, because I love my kids. You don’t want to see them go through anything,” Lori said. “Even though he may seem that he’s okay, deep down inside when we’re at home and he’s talking, he’s like, ‘Why would people do this?’”
Kahmaree is a sensitive soul. He thinks about all the other youngsters who’ve received similar messages.
“It’s not cool that those kids should have to worry about being abducted or kidnapped,” he said.
Lori worries for their emotional health too. She knows not all of them have adults surrounding them with positive messages. She’s hopeful federal investigators get to the bottom of it.
“Whoever’s behind this, get them, make them stop, because the kids do not deserve to have to go through this,” she said.
KCTV5 ed the Kansas City FBI office asking for the best way for people to report messages they received. A spokesperson sent the following statement from the FBI:
The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.
As always, we encourage of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities.
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