At least three people are accused of so-called 'Zoombombing' on a panel held by the Mason High School Black Student Union on Friday prompting a police investigation.Mason City Schools' public information officer sent a letter out to families explaining what happened during the panel. She said while a panel was being held on the Black experience in Mason, a hateful Zoombombing event happened where people intruded on the Zoom meeting and are accused of using profanity, gory video images and a racist slur.Black Student Union leader ended the Zoom session quickly and sent out a new link to the panel's participants."It's disturbing and it should be disturbing to all of us," said Superintendent Jonathan Cooper. "This was an event that was an attack on the values that we hold up here. It was a racist act and it was something that attacked our students."After the incident, the public information officers worked with the Southwest Ohio Computer Association to learn more. They said the attack was coordinated by at least three people.The public information officer said the IP addresses of the unknown participants who were likely the Zoombombers were from other parts of the country and included several international addresses.Dr. Littisha Bates who moderated the panel and has three children in the district said the district's initial response was not adequate. The district initially issued a brief statement calling the incident "disturbing" and asking anyone with information to come forward."I've talked to students. I've talked to other parents, and we all sort of had the same feeling," said Bates. "That we didn't matter enough for you to issue a strong enough statement."On a virtual call Monday, Cooper acknowledged the district's initial response should have been better. "We were trying to move quickly, and sometimes when you're moving quickly, you don't have the perfect response and that's something I apologized to the students and families today about," he said. "At the end of the day we do stand up against racism, we do support our students and stand with them and we do not tolerate acts of hate in our district."Students who were a part of the Black Student Union were connected with support to process Friday evening's attack."Our heart breaks that an important forum intended as a safe space for members of our Black community to share their experiences was compromised. Moving forward, all school-sponsored virtual events will require an online registration in order to try to prevent something like this from happening in the future," the release from the public resource officer said."We can talk to you all day about the experiences that we have of racism and discrimination, but what better evidence then to have the Zoom panel talking about our experiences as Black folks in Mason be racially bombed," Bates said.Authorities are still investigating.
At least three people are accused of so-called 'Zoombombing' on a panel held by the Mason High School Black Student Union on Friday prompting a police investigation.
Mason City Schools' public information officer sent a letter out to families explaining what happened during the panel. She said while a panel was being held on the Black experience in Mason, a hateful Zoombombing event happened where people intruded on the Zoom meeting and are accused of using profanity, gory video images and a racist slur.
Black Student Union leader ended the Zoom session quickly and sent out a new link to the panel's participants.
"It's disturbing and it should be disturbing to all of us," said Superintendent Jonathan Cooper. "This was an event that was an attack on the values that we hold up here. It was a racist act and it was something that attacked our students."
After the incident, the public information officers worked with the Southwest Ohio Computer Association to learn more. They said the attack was coordinated by at least three people.
The public information officer said the IP addresses of the unknown participants who were likely the Zoombombers were from other parts of the country and included several international addresses.
Dr. Littisha Bates who moderated the panel and has three children in the district said the district's initial response was not adequate. The district initially issued a brief statement calling the incident "disturbing" and asking anyone with information to come forward.
"I've talked to students. I've talked to other parents, and we all sort of had the same feeling," said Bates. "That we didn't matter enough for you to issue a strong enough statement."
On a virtual call Monday, Cooper acknowledged the district's initial response should have been better.
"We were trying to move quickly, and sometimes when you're moving quickly, you don't have the perfect response and that's something I apologized to the students and families today about," he said. "At the end of the day we do stand up against racism, we do support our students and stand with them and we do not tolerate acts of hate in our district."
Students who were a part of the Black Student Union were connected with support to process Friday evening's attack.
"Our heart breaks that an important forum intended as a safe space for members of our Black community to share their experiences was compromised. Moving forward, all school-sponsored virtual events will require an online registration in order to try to prevent something like this from happening in the future," the release from the public resource officer said.
"We can talk to you all day about the experiences that we have of racism and discrimination, but what better evidence then to have the Zoom panel talking about our experiences as Black folks in Mason be racially bombed," Bates said.
Authorities are still investigating.
Source link
