USC African-American student group ‘Zoom bombed’ with racist images, slurs
The University of South Carolina African-American Association of Students’ annual cookout, hosted on Zoom this Friday evening due to the coronavirus pandemic, was interrupted by individuals engaged in racist conduct.
In a statement posted on Twitter, the AAAS said the individuals posted “a plethora of images, videos and messages containing racist slurs and derogatory terms.”
“We are completely repulsed by the actions of these individuals and offer our support to those who were subject to or in any way impacted by it,” the statement said.
The incident occurred at approximately 6:50 p.m., according to a statement released by the university student government.
In a video of the incident, posted on social media, people interrupted the call by depicting blackface and a Nazi flag. Racist language can also be heard in the video.
USC President Robert Caslen released a statement on Twitter condemning the actions Friday evening.
“What happened at the AAAS Cookout is absolutely unacceptable & disgusting,” the tweet said. “I can’t apologize enough to the @UofSCstudents who witnessed such ignorance while gathering to fellowship with one another during this unprecedented time. University officials are aware & are investigating.”
School spokesman Jeff Stensland told The State that it is unclear whether the individuals are students at South Carolina, but added that the university’s IT department is investigating.
Twitter user @aidannbaker posted a clip of the Zoom call, adding “We were having a little party courtesy of the African American Association of Students when some random racists/neo-nazis, i assume teenagers, jumped on the meeting. white ppl: PLEASE check your kids”.
Later, the Twitter user asked for the public’s help to identify “these racists/neo-nazis.”
With large sections of society shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic, “Zoom-bombing” has become an issue as more and more events move to the online video conferencing platform. In these incidents, individuals disrupt video calls, often shouting slurs and threats.
The official Zoom Twitter account also reacted to the video, adding that the incident was escalated to the company’s trust and safety team.
“We are very upset to hear about this,” the Zoom tweet read.
