Racist ‘zoombombing’ at USC was likely not USC students, Caslen says

A racist “zoombombing” incident at the University of South Carolina in April was likely not the work of fellow Gamecocks, USC President Robert Caslen said in a Friday letter.

The letter, which was sent to USC’s Association of African American Students (AAAS), said police worked with officials from Zoom and found that those who conducted the racist Zoombombing were likely from Europe. The letter did not specify a country or region, he said.

“After a thorough investigation, university police officers concluded that the individuals who perpetrated the racist attack were likely not members of our University of South Carolina community, but rather were individuals from outside our community,” Caslen wrote in the Friday letter.

“Zoombombing” — named for the popular online meeting tool Zoom — is when someone hijacks an online meeting and plays offensive content. When USC’s AAAS chapter held its annual cookout virtually in April because of coronavirus, several unidentified people joined teh call displaying swastikas, blackface and other racist images.

It isn’t the only time a school in the Midlands was “zoombombed” at the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic. During a May meeting about Dreher High School graduation, hackers hijacked the meeting and played a pornographic video.

Though Caslen said in the letter that the findings conclude the investigation, he stressed that the university has more work to to create a more inclusive campus.

“Over the past few months, our community and our nation have been reminded of the ever-present, harmful consequences of racism and hatred,” Caslen said. “We have so much work to do to confront racism and we are committed to visible action and change on our campus.”