The Bronx Community Board 7 general meeting via Zoom on Tuesday evening was infiltrated by a group that displayed pornographic imagery — and District Manager Karla Cabrera Carrera said it wasn’t the first incident of this nature.
“I think before it was just someone would say something inappropriate during the meeting. And now it’s definitely a lot worse,” said Cabrera Carrera, who was recently appointed to the position.
Before the official start time of the CB7 meeting Tuesday night, some board members expressed concerns that they noticed a suspicious attendee in the call, but were unable to locate them. Minutes later, the call was interrupted by three separate individuals showing sexually explicit videos of a man masturbating on screen, accompanied by applause from multiple other virtual participants.
Moderators then locked the meeting — muting all participants, cutting video and returning everyone to the virtual waiting room. After the Zoom bombers were removed, multiple attendees, including the Bronx Times, struggled to re-enter the meeting as moderators tried to ensure none of the hackers remained.
“We weren’t live thankfully, but it’s still very shocking and it’s of course something that none of us are ready to experience,” Cabrera Carrera said.
There have been upwards of four Zoom bombings during CB7 meetings in the past year, she said, and this week’s meeting was the second time pornographic imagery was broadcast. The New York Post also reported that Brooklyn’s Community Board 13 experienced a similar attack on Wednesday night, and a contentious CB11 Zoom meeting over parking fees earlier this month in which a member flipped his middle finger has The Bronx Borough President’s office investigating a member for comparing the fares to sexual assault.
In addition to the Zoom bombings, Cabrera Carrera said CB7 has run into other issues with virtual public decorum.
During a Feb. 28 meeting — while members of the board…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply