People throughout the D.C. area and across the United States reported receiving racist spam text messages the day after the election that told them to report to plantations to pick cotton.

One person, who did not want to be identified, sent News4 a screenshot of the text, which said:

“Greetings, You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12PM SHARP with your belongings. Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Black Van, be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter[sic] the plantation. You are in Plantation Group S”

News4 obtained the screenshot of a similar text sent to another person from the region:

A third text shared on the Washingtonian Problems Instagram had specific references to the District and Virginia. In that message, the recipient was told they would be a “house slave” at the Abingdon Plantation in Arlington which is on land shared with Washington Reagan National Airport. They’re directed to an address in Southwest DC and are also told it is mandatory.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Office of Homeland Security Intelligence is investigating the origins of the messages directing people to a Southwest address, police said.

Each message is slightly different in detail and specificity.

Some students in Montgomery County, Maryland, also received the texts, the school system said in a letter to families.

“We recognize that the emotional and psychological impact on our students, staff, and particularly our communities of color is profound. We stand in solidarity with those who feel targeted and hurt by these actions,” Montgomery County Public Schools said in the letter.

School officials asked anyone who received the messages to report them to local authorities or school staff.

The attorneys general for Washington, D.C. and Virginia condemned the texts and asked residents to reach out to local law enforcement if they’re in danger.

For District residents, the Office of the Attorney General asked anyone who received the texts to reach out to the civil rights section at 202-727-3400 or emailing OAGCivilRights@dc.gov.

D.C. police advised forwarding the messages to the Federal Trade Commission at 7726 or report them to ReportFraud.ftc.gov, as well as marking the messages as junk or spam in order to report them to the messaging app.

People in Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and other states have also reported getting the texts, according to online news reports. Many of the texts appeared to go to students – including some in middle school.

The source of the widespread texts is unknown at this time and it’s unclear how they obtained the phone numbers and names of so many.

Tuesday’s election delivered two major voting reforms to the District of Columbia. Initiative 83, which passed overwhelmingly, has two components — first, it will allow independent voters to cast ballots in D.C. primaries and second, it will bring ranked choice voting to the city.

In D.C., where Democrats dominate and Republicans are hardly heard from in citywide results, elections tend to be won or lost in the primary — months ahead of the November election.

Lisa Rice, a D.C. resident and the lead supporter of the initiative, was motivated by her frustration as an independent voter who was shut out of primary elections.

“There are 75,000 of us who will be enfranchised and we will be able to vote in the election of consequence here in D.C. … We’re going to have politicians working harder for the people, by letting independents vote in primary elections,” said Rice.

While Arlington County continues with its pilot program of ranked choice voting, Initiative 83 will bring the same procedure to D.C.

“You vote for your favorite candidate and then you rank your backed up choices. If your favorite doesn’t win, your vote simply moves to your next choice until a candidate wins with 50%,” said Rice.

“I’ll be voting ‘no’ on the initiative,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a high-profile critic of the idea, said last month.

She called ranked choice voting “a very complicated election system.”

“I am totally against ranked choice voting,” Bowser said. “I don’t think that our very good experience with elections suggests that we need to make any change.”

Rice said she thinks the system is “different,” rather than “complicated.”

“Voters like it and voters get used to it,” Rice said.

The measure has been approved by the voters, next it must be funded by the D.C. Council.

“Before the end of the year, it will be before them. We really are excited about that and we look forward to being part of the discussions about the budget process. … Our hope is this will be implemented in time for the 2026 election cycle — the June primary,” said Rice.

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The United States woke on Wednesday morning to the news that Donald Trump had won a second term, becoming the nation’s 47th president.

As the day after the 2024 election continued, residents across the DMV adjusted to a historic victory and what a return to a Trump White House could mean over the next four years.

In Washington, D.C., where more than 90% of voters chose Harris, the news was met with disappointment and anxiety.

“We are in trouble. We’re just in trouble,” one woman said in downtown D.C. Wednesday morning after election night and President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.

Businesses around downtown D.C. had boarded up windows before Election Day began, preparing for the possibility of violence. But after heightened security and fears in the city where, four years ago, rioters descended on the nation’s capitol to protest election results, D.C. police told News4 they made no arrests overnight.

Another voter said, “We’ve lived through him before. I think we will survive through this one, but I’m very disappointed.”

The prospect of a second Trump presidency was met with excitement at events across the U.S., including outside Trump Tower in New York City on election night.

All parts of the DMV — D.C., Maryland and Virginia — were called for Vice President Kamala Harris. In D.C. and Maryland, the win was decisive, but the margin in Virginia was much more narrow.

Virginia Gov. Glen Youngkin congratulated President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance on their victory in a message posted on social media platform X early Wednesday morning.

On the state level, Virginia re-elected Sen. Tim Kaine, who defeated challenger Hung Cao. Democrats also secured victories in Virginia’s 10th and 8th Congressional Districts.

The Associated Press has called Virginia’s 7th Congressional District for Democrat Eugene Vindman, in a highly contested race that decides who will replace Rep. Abigail Spanberger when she runs for governor in 2025. NBC News has not yet called the race.

In Maryland, the race for District 6 is also too close to call, though Democrat April McClain Delaney has a razor-thin lead over Republican candidate Neil Parrott. It’s a critical seat for the balance of power in the U.S. House.

But while some of the results of the election continue to trickle in, the biggest race was decided earlier than anyone anticipated.

President Biden spoke to both candidates in the wake of the presidential race being called. He congratulated Harris on her historic campaign and congratulated Trump on his victory. Biden “emphasized the importance of working to bring the country together,” and said he was committed to ensuring a smooth transition, according to the White House.

On Wednesday afternoon, Harris called now President-elect Trump to congratulate him on winning the 2024 presidential election, according to a senior Harris aide.

Harris also discussed the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and being a president for all Americans, the aide said.

At 4 p.m., Harris emerged on the stage on the Howard University campus, polished and dignified, and publicly conceded the race to Trump.

She emphasized that accepting a loss is an integral part of democracy, while emphasizing that her supporters “must accept the results of this election.”

“The light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting,” she said, adding, “This is not a time to throw up our hands; it’s a time to roll up our sleeves.”

But though the election is over, Harris said, the fight is not.

“While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign,” she said.

She shared a message for young voters, many of them college students in the audience right in front of her. Shots of the crowd showed Howard students shedding tears as she spoke.

“On the campaign, I would often say, ‘When we fight, we win,’” Harris told the crowd, many of them in tears. “But here’s the thing: Sometime the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up, don’t ever give up, don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.”  

“And don’t you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before,” she added.

Kamala Harris conceded to Donald Trump in a speech at Howard University and said she will help Trump enact a peaceful transfer of power.

In the days and weeks leading up to Inauguration Day, the District will prepare for the historic ceremony and the second term of a man who has previously threatened a federal takeover of D.C.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement that she will support the transition process and continue to advance the priorities of the District.

In a post on X, Bowser said: “As the nation’s capital, we are proud to fulfill our role in the peaceful transition of power. We will actively support the incoming Trump Administration’s transition process and the 60th Presidential Inauguration of President-elect Trump. As your mayor, I have worked with three presidents, including President-elect Trump, and congressional leaders of both parties to advance the priorities of the District — infrastructure, housing affordability, downtown revitalization and our self-determination. And driven by our values, we will pursue a collaborative approach to our federal priorities in the District.”

While on the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump threatened a federal takeover of Washington, D.C. News4’s Mark Segraves explains what could happen once he’s back in office.

Her statement concluded: “We thank the DC Board of Elections and election officials across the country for conducting a free and fair election. And we congratulate DC councilmembers and commissioners, members of Congress and President-elect Trump on their victories.”

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson says he supports the democratic process and a peaceful transition of power, “even when we are unhappy with the results,” he wrote in a brief statement this afternoon.

“And despite our internal disagreements over how things could be better, we, the District of Columbia, have a very good city, financially sound, and well run. We will remain focused on our strengths, protect our autonomy, and make sure no one tries to take that away from us,” his statement concluded.