U.S. Global Media Agency Investigates Claim That Official Called White People ‘Snow Roaches’

The U.S. Agency for Global Media, the executive-branch office that oversees Voice of America and other U.S.-funded outlets, is investigating allegations that a member of its executive team made several posts to his account on X referring to white people as “snow roaches.” National Review cannot independently corroborate claims about the relevant account’s ownership, but the allegations are already making the rounds on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have long been frustrated with what they view as a history of scandals at the agency.

In a statement to National Review on Friday, a spokesperson said the USAGM “does not condone intolerance in any form.” The USAGM began investigating the allegations when it learned about them and is “investigating the veracity of the tweets,” the spokesperson added. “We do not comment on personnel matters publicly, and we will take any appropriate action based on our findings.”

The allegations initially surfaced online. On Friday morning, a page on X with a large following, called “End Wokeness,” posted images from what it claimed to be the account of USAGM’s chief information officer, James “J. R.” Reeves. The screenshots showed that the account in question repeatedly used the term snow roaches to refer derogatorily to white people. In one exchange, the person behind the account, labeled “J.R.,” apparently responded to a commenter who threatened to email USAGM’s human-resources team about his use of “snow roaches” with a picture of a can of roach spray.

End Wokeness posted photographs that it said were from the account, in which a man who resembles Reeves appears. The social-media account allegedly belonging to Reeves switched to private soon after the End Wokeness post went up, and Reeves did not respond to a request for comment from National Review. After an NR reporter sent a direct message to the J.R. account today, it blocked him. As of Friday afternoon, the account’s bio read: “Native Washingtonian, Proud Father, Rider, IT whisperer, Just Another Devastating Sigma, B.S., M.S., M.B.A #BLM #freepalestine”

Representative Mike Collins (R., Ga.) this morning urged USAGM to investigate the allegations contained in End Wokeness’s post, calling on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to act. A GOP aide, meanwhile, described the situation as possibly the latest in a string of many instances of questionable behavior by USAGM staffers. “Once again, serious questions have arisen about HR practices at USAGM,” this person said.