'Zoom Bombing' Disrupts Western Mass City Council Meeting; Leaders Look To Block Trolls: Report

A standard city council meeting last week in Hampshire County was upended by "Zoom bombing" trolls and antisemites who spewed hateful and offensive comments. Northampton city councilors have spent the last week looking for solutions to fight back for their meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, reports said.

Josh Lanier

11/09/2023 12:35 p.m.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reported that the Nov. 2 Northampton City Council meeting was set to discuss typical city governance issues, but things took a dark turn when leaders opened the floor for public comments.

Several people signed up to speak to the board via Zoom. They used fake names and left their cameras turned off as they made antisemitic, racist, and homophobic remarks during their allotted two-minutes, the report said.

The newspaper said city leaders spent the week discussing how to curtail hate speech during public comments to prevent these issues in the future.

"Zoom bombs" are nothing new. They've only grown following the pandemic, as public forums were forced to go digital, Harvard University said. Online classes, city council meetings, and company conference calls have all been targets of these coordinated raids.

The Northampton City Council will meet again on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in council chambers at 212 Main St.

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