Delaware congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester said she, Philadelphia Congressman Dwight Evans and members of the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus for Delaware small businesses were victims of a racist and sexist “Zoom-bombing” during a video call Wednesday night.
Rochester (D-Del.) said she was participating in a Zoom meeting when an unidentified person interrupted the call with a racist and hateful message.
“It was racist, it was sexist, it was immature,” Rochester said. “My first reaction was not to be upset - my first reaction was that we will not let hate take us down. I think that that is the message right now for this whole epidemic.”
Zoom has been a popular video conferencing service for friends, families, businesses and schools amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the rise in popularity has also given way to an increase in “zoom-bombings,” sudden interruptions by internet trolls and hackers with vulgar and at times hateful messages.
Rochester later released a YouTube video addressing Wednesday’s incident.
“And for anybody who wants to continue to spread that kind of - you know - it's one thing to have a different opinion,” she said. “We're all entitled to that. But for those of you who just don’t get it - why we’re on this planet - I feel sorry for you, I pray for you, but I want you to know you will not steal our joy.”
