Charter Spectrum is investigating how a racist message was sent through set-top boxes to some of its North Texas customers earlier this week, disturbing the individuals who saw it, WFAA8 reports.
“When I first pulled it up I was like, 'What? What?’” April Taylor, who recently became a Charter customer, told the news station. “I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. I was literally like, 'What? This can’t be real.’”
According to WFAA8, the on-screen message read, “[F—k] Black Lives Matter! 1488 Brought to you by Phreak of Nature Baby J and King Benji! All [N—gers] Must Die!" The term 1488 is a combination of two white supremacist symbols, WFAA8 notes, quoting the Anti-Defamation League.
“The first symbol is 14, which is shorthand for the '14 Words' slogan: 'We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.' The second is 88, which stands for 'Heil Hitler' (H being the eighth letter of the alphabet). Together, the numbers form a general endorsement of white supremacy and its beliefs,” the ADL website explains.
“I literally was physically shaking,” Taylor said. “I just don’t understand. Why?
“Imagine if your kids were sitting in front of the TV and something racist about their race came across?” she added.
Taylor said she contacted Charter twice to report the issue before finally getting a call back from a vice president who told her that other customers had also seen the message. The company quickly deleted the message.
“We are aware that an abhorrent message briefly appeared on some set-top boxes. We apologize profusely to any of our customers who were subjected to it, and we are working to understand the cause,” Charter told the station in a statement.
Read more at WFAA8.