Hacker crashes virtual meetings in Newtown

NEWTOWN – A racist hacker broke into separate Zoom meetings at the high school and at the town library last week, using the n-word and other hate speech that was similar to the attack on U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes in Newtown earlier this month.

“Incidents like these are not only disruptive but highly offensive to students and staff,” wrote Newtown Superintendent Lorrie Rodrigue in a letter to school parents on Saturday. “These unfortunate acts are simply not acceptable and do not represent the many students, staff, and community members who believe in respect, tolerance, inclusion, and caring about others.”

The racist Zoom bombing of a virtual assembly of high school freshmen and their advisers, and a separate racist Zoom bombing of a virtual meeting of the Newtown Non-Profit Council last week follow the Oct. 12 racist attack on a Zoom call between Hayes and Newtown voters.

That mid-October attack made national headlines, not only because Hayes is the first Black congresswoman to represent Connecticut, but because Hayes called out the “vile disgusting … deplorable hate” in a spirited personal essay called “I Am Not Ok.”

“The only way we can cut the cancer of racism out of our communities is by calling it out when we see it and raising our collective voices to get rid of it,” Hayes wrote after the attack in Newtown.

The attack on Hayes, which involved multiple Zoom bombers in an apparent coordinated hack, is being investigated along with the two new racist attacks, Newtown police Chief James Viadero said on Monday.

“We have assigned this to our detective division, and we are working with the state’s attorney to identify the individual,” Viadero said. “Right now, we are in the preliminary stage of the investigation and to comment on it any more would be premature.”