On Zoom Bombings
Dear Editor,
Across the commonwealth, “Zoom Bombing” incidents at city and town meetings are on the rise.
Perpetrators of such acts infiltrate these events as an opportunity to instill fear, create divisiveness and fuel hatred. Winthrop is just one of many communities that has found itself a target of Zoom bombing. In December of 2023, during a town council meeting, attendees found themselves on the receiving end of a horrific Zoom bombing. The offender, while on camera spewed an antisemitic message and a swastika flag was visible in the background. Members of the council and town manager took swift action, quickly severing the Zoom video and audio connection. While the Zoom bombing literally lasted a few seconds, it left a lasting impression on each and every person in attendance. I was in that meeting and I still feel a knot forming in my stomach and extreme feelings of anger when thinking about what happened that night. The Zoom bombing was an assault on our Jewish residents and in my opinion, every member of the Winthrop community. It was an incredibly deeply disturbing and disheartening situation.
Less than twenty-four hours following the incident, Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty stated that he was working with the Massachusetts State Police and FBI to identify the person responsible for the Zoom bombing. He indicated that the Winthrop Police Department is actively investigating the incident as a hate crime. Winthrop’s Town Manager, Anthony Marino stated that Winthrop is a fantastic community and hate has no home here. I wholeheartedly agree with his sentiment. The fact of the matter is that hate exists in every part of the world including our own community. Of this, we can not deny. We must swiftly eradicate it at every turn and when each opportunity presents itself.
At a recent Worcester City Council Meeting, a participant via Zoom let loose with hate-filled diatribe. It was the second time in less than a month that something like this occurred in Worcester. The deplorable tirade included antisemitic, racist, and homophobic comments, all of which were stomach turning and abusive. Other communities that have been at the center of similar Zoom bombings include Ashland, Brookline, Concord, Framingham, Lexington and Marblehead. These incidents are becoming far too frequent and the perpetrators more emboldened.
On February 8, 2024 in Ashland, a town planning board meeting found itself on the receiving end of a Zoom bombing. Two members of the planning board were called out by name by the perpetrators using antisemitic and homophobic language. One board member is Jewish and the other a lesbian. The fact that the Zoom bomber singled out the two planning board members by name is most alarming. I reached out to town officials in Ashland to ask if law enforcement had made any strides in identifying the perpetrator. I was told the police department did investigate, but found no criminal wrongdoing. The Ashland leadership received a strongly worded letter from the Middlesex County District Attorney’s office in response to the incident. They were sympathetic to town officials and decried the perpetrators behavior as abhorrent, but stated the perpetrators had a right to express themselves as long as they were not disruptive. Had I been an Ashland resident, I would have questioned the District Attorney’s response. Isn’t shouting hateful antisemitic and homophobic rhetoric at members of a town’s planning board during a meeting considered disruptive? If it is not, then what does actually qualify as disruptive? I am truly unimpressed by the response given over this incident in Ashland.
In late February 2024, a Lexington School Committee meeting became the victim of a Zoom bombing. The hateful rhetoric spewed targeted the LGBTQ+ community and specifically, transgendered people. As with most Zoom bombing incidents, perpetrator(s) typically leave their video cameras off, so they can not be easily identified by meeting participants or law enforcement. Disabling their cameras or wearing masks while visible is nothing short of cowardice. It is no different than members of any hate group that attempt to hide their appearance from others.
March 14, 2024, a Zoom bombing occurred at Concord’s Finance Committee meeting. The rhetoric was antisemitic in nature, deeply disturbing and offensive. Concord officials had something similar happen at their recent Board of Appeals meeting. Town Manager, Kerry Lafleur decried the atrocious rhetoric and the incident as a whole.
Like so many other towns and cities across the commonwealth, Winthrop has implemented stronger controls when using Zoom for public meetings. That’s a good and effective start. Each of these Zoom bombing incidents needs to be investigated by local police, state and federal law enforcement. The perpetrators are out there living amongst us. Some are tied to extremist groups spread throughout the United States. Nathan Allen who in 2021 gunned down and murdered Winthrop resident’s David Green and Ramona Cooper, walked, shopped and lived amongst the Winthrop community. He held antisemitic and racist ideologies. None of us knew this until it was too late. He was not on anyone’s radar.
Remaining aware and diligent is everything. Not existing in fear is important. But pretending hate doesn’t exist or cannot touch our lives is naive and dangerous. How we respond to incidents like this is what truly counts. Unity, supporting one another, not being afraid to stand up against hate in all of its many forms; in not denying that hate exists and working together to extinguish its volatile and deadly flames, we will succeed. As human beings and as a community, we must decide who we live our lives; either in fear or with great courage.
What is the message we wish to take away from these incidents? Do we tell ourselves it was a random one-time occurrence? That someone like Nathan Allen could not ever reside amongst us again? That the perpetrator who Zoom bombed our town council meeting lives thousands of miles away and has no ties to this community? That the perpetrators of all these other Zoom bombing’s are just disturbed people with too much time on their hands living far, far away from us? Or do we accept the fact that we have much work to do in order to build a community that is truly inclusive of all people? Not that we just say we are a welcoming community, but we actually seek to prove it. I personally feel we have a long way to go and it is going to take a collaborative effort where we learn from one another, actively listen to each other, focus on common goals to create stronger unity and ensure that our law enforcement and town leaders set the tone for how we will respond as a community to hateful rhetoric and hateful acts. The message has to be just as Town Manager Marino stated clearly; “Hate has no home here” and from Chief Delehanty, “We will respond aggressively to this attack on our community. There is no place for hate in Winthrop. Not in person; not online; not anywhere.”
In peace, faith and hope;
Scott Mahoney-Wright
Precinct 3