ATLANTA – The FBI Atlanta Hate Crime Response Guide provides detailed steps on how individuals should respond if they become the victim of a hate crime. The Atlanta field office began distributing the pamphlet earlier this week.

“It’s important for us to get the information out to the public so they can help us with our investigations, because it really starts with the public being able to make those reports to us in a timely and appropriate manner,” said FBI Atlanta Supervisory . Special Agent Keith Kabrhel in an interview with FOX 5’s Deidra Dukes.

After the presidential election, Georgia residents reported receiving disturbing text messages suggesting they had been “elected to pick cotton” and threatening consequences if they did not comply. Similar incidents targeting black, Hispanic and LGBTQ+ people have been reported nationwide in recent weeks.

In South Fulton, a resident recently found a flier containing anti-immigrant rhetoric in a local park, underscoring the ongoing tide of hateful messages.

Officer Kabrhel explained that hate crimes can occur in many different forms and settings, such as through text messages, emails, phone calls, or in-person incidents. “If something comes in the mail or someone texts you or sends an email or a phone call, and sometimes hate crimes can happen on the street, in a parking lot, outside a store, and those are all situations different,” Kabrhel said.

The booklet outlines the critical steps for preserving evidence in hate crime cases. “So if something happens, they’re quick to think about preserving the evidence, because without evidence of a case, without being able to see the email or without being able to hear the message or see the video of the altercation that created that hate crime , it is very difficult for us to pursue a case and investigate a case,” Kabrhel added.

People who receive messages or experience incidents consistent with these descriptions are encouraged to report the details to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting tips online at tips.fbi.gov.