Texas cable customers receive racist messages posted to their TVs

Aug 5, 2016

Charter Spectrum is investigating how a vulgar and racist rant was sent out to its customers via set top boxes before the company was able to quickly delete the message on Tuesday.

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“F*** Black Lives Matter! 1488 Brought to you by Phreak of Nature Baby J and King Benji! All N****** Must Die!” read the on-screen message.

The Anti-Defamation League explained the significance of the message: “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 8th letter of the alphabet). Together, the numbers form a general endorsement of white supremacy and its beliefs.”

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When several customers called the cable company to ask how such a vulgar message could be sent to their TVs, Charter quickly deleted the message and is looking into how it happened.

“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 said in a statement to WFAA.

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