Zoom bombers interrupt meeting, use racist slurs against Raleigh City Council member
A handful of online participants disrupted a Midtown Citizen Advisory Council meeting this week, hurling racist slurs against Raleigh City Council Member Mary Black.
“It’s not like slight racism of being followed in a store,” Black said in an interview Wednesday. “It was full-on the n-word, [with a] hard ‘R.’ And telling me to go back to Africa.”
The meeting was held both in person and online with some participants, including Black and fellow City Council member Christina Jones, joining online.
Citizen Advisory Councils, or CACs, are neighborhood groups that weigh in, informally, on city issues and hear presentations from city staff and civic groups.
Police association presentation
The Raleigh Police Protective Association had just given a presentation at Monday’s meeting, outlining its request for a 15% pay increase for local police officers, when the meeting was opened up for questions.
“And that’s when everything kind of fell apart,” said Larry Helfant, chair of the Midtown CAC.
The online speakers first spoke one at a time, criticizing the police and talking about corruption. At least one attendee used a curse word toward the police, Jones said.
It was around that time that Black joined the meeting. Her camera was off, but a picture of her face could be seen on the screen.
Black is a first-term council member representing North Raleigh. She’s one of three African-American council members on the eight-person City Council.
“She came in, and that’s pretty much when the chaos started,” Jones said. “I’m sure she was caught off guard because this woman on the (Zoom) call was calling Mary by name and said the n-word. ... They were saying that most hateful, hateful things. They told Mary to go back to Africa. They were saying things about Jewish people. That was heinous.”
What are Zoom bombings?
Instances of Zoom bombing, the intentional disruption of virtual meetings, increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular in school and higher education settings. The participants are usually hackers or Internet trolls looking to spread hate speech or chaos.
None of the people saying racist things Monday showed their face and it was unclear if they were using their real names or were Raleigh residents. One person used a fake, common, antisemitic name that’s been used by Zoom bombers across the country.
“I do remember Larry being like, ‘Let’s keep the conversation on topic,’ because they were talking about things that really didn’t have to do with the presentation that we just received,” said Black, who had joined the meeting from out of town. “It was like they were coming in there to be disruptive online. It was clearly a Zoom bombing. I don’t know who the people were but they were coming there to be chaotic.”
Afterward, Jones called Black to check on her, and they both cried together on the phone.
‘Just really disturbing,’ Black says
“I’ve been seeing this growing trend of people feeling like they can say whatever they want to say to you, and that there’s no repercussions because they’re able to hide behind a computer screens or other things,” Black said.
“It’s just really disturbing. It really disturbed me. Deeply,” she said. “I literally burst into tears right after the meeting.”
Several people reached out to Black, but she said she didn’t file a police report or contact city staff about what happened. However, Jones did tell city staff and other council members.
“I didn’t know what to do or say,” Black said. “I think as Black people in America, we have different moments where we’re dealing with these racial moments, racialized moments, and we don’t know what to do about them. We don’t know who to talk or if there’s anything that can even happen.”
After the meeting, she said, she thought about the owners of Liberation Station Bookstore, a Black-owned book store that left downtown Raleigh after reported hate and death threats.
“I want every person in the city to not have to deal with a situation like this,” she said. “And for them to feel safe and loved in our community, because I feel like Raleigh is such a beautiful tapestry of many different cultures. I don’t think this reflects the city. But I do think this reflects the underbelly of some people who hold harmful views and want to not relinquish those ideas to keep people scared or fearful or to just hurt people.”
