WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is working to protect Georgians from discriminatory threats.
Ossoff, D-Ga., launches investigation with Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Department of Justice, urging them to fully investigate racist, threatening text messages targeting Black, Hispanic and LGBTQ Georgians .
According to an Atlanta TV station, some reports suggested that black recipients had been “selected to pick cotton” and warned of consequences if they did not follow the rules. The victims, including a 14-year-old girl, and their families were left scared and shocked, prompting them to contact authorities.
Later, threatening text messages were sent to high school students, including many Latino Georgians and some in the LGBTQ community.
“These mass communications are an attack on the safety and dignity of Georgians, and they may violate federal and state laws,” Ossoff wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. “It is imperative that the Department of Justice fully investigate these hateful threats and harassment, including against children.”
Last month, Sens introduced Ossoff and James Lankford, R-Okla., passed the Stopping Political Discrimination in Disaster Assistance Act to ban in federal law any political discrimination in the provision of federal disaster assistance.
This spring, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee passed a bill sponsored by Ossoff that would prevent employers from using forced arbitration against older workers seeking justice and accountability in age discrimination cases.
In 2022, following his years of efforts to rally Democratic and Republican support for the legislation, Senator Ossoff successfully passed the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act through the Senate to strengthen workplace protections for pregnant workers in Georgia and across the country .
