Source: CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA / Getty

Donald Trump has, once again, been elected president, and the energy in America is, well, exactly what one would expect it to be. The white majority is celebrating while marginalized people are fearful.

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Right on the heels of Trump’s projected win, a rumor is circulating on social media that white supremacist groups are planning to attack Black Americans “from now until the Inauguration.” According to the Ledger-Inquirer, the information on the alleged threat began before Election Day with a single post by a woman who said she learned from a friend in the Gwinnett County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office that Ku Klux Klan members from Lexington, North Carolina, “are plotting against Blacks, especially black women because in their eyes, we are easy targets!” However, on Saturday, the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook that investigators learned of “a circulating text thread suggesting potential attacks on African American women ‘from now through the inauguration,’” but said, “We have not received any information indicating threats to any group(s) on or after election day.”

Derwin Hargrave, a spokesperson for the city of Lexington, also told reporters, “We have not been able to confirm that it’s an actual threat, but we’re still remaining vigilant.”

Whether the threat is credible or not, police in North Carolina and Georgia are investigating the matter, as are local chapters of the NAACP. But so far, all we’re hearing from officials is that the threat likely isn’t real.

It’s worth mentioning that on Election Day, the FBI reported bomb threats at polling locations in several states, including Georgia, where five polling locations were threatened, two of which were evacuated for a half hour. Those threats were also deemed “non-credible” by law enforcement as well as state officials, including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

These recent threats to the safety of Black people and others may or may not be real, but the fear in the air certainly is, and it couldn’t be a coincidence that the presidential candidate who ran a campaign almost entirely on fearmongering won. Just sayin’.

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