![]() ![]() “We seem to be seeing lots of things like this where people feel emboldened to call somebody the n-word,” Thede said. ![]() Phyllis Thede, D–Bettendorf, said she was in the middle of her speech during the forum when she was interrupted by outbursts of racial slurs, inappropriate language, as well as racist depictions drawn on the Powerpoint and typed in the meeting’s chat. RELATED: ‘Zoombombing’ disrupts online connections as UI classes, government meetings move online 7, the Des Moines People’s Condition of the State, attended by multiple Black legislators discussing legislative priorities for the 2022 session and hosted by Womble, was Zoombombed with racial slurs and violent threats. “These individuals want to do anything they can to disrupt our community to prevent us from organizing, to prevent us from participating in the democratic process, but also running as candidates and becoming a lot of the leaders ourselves,” Womble said. Womble described Zoombombing as an act of “mental terrorism,” an attempt to scare Black legislators from organizing and informing their communities. “We have now been able to coordinate with individuals all across the United States of America, in order to conduct meetings, get information, and have different speakers, which has been wonderful.” Disrupting the community “Zoom has been a blessing and a curse,” Womble said. When attempting to reach new people, the goal is to see new participants in legislative meetings, so it can be difficult to recognize Zoombombers based on the names that they use to attend meetings, Womble said. “Zoombombing is an act where individuals purposely disrupt a meeting with vulgar language, racist statements, and the goal is to try to see that individuals on a zoom call cannot proceed with businesses and the purpose of the call,” Abdul-Samad said.Īl Womble, chair of the Iowa Democratic Black Caucus, said Zoom has created increased accessibility for state and national meetings. Janet Petersen - all Democrats representing Des Moines - hosted on Facebook Live. Ako Abdul-Samad, D–Des Moines, has experienced multiple instances of virtual legislative meetings being disrupted by racist and vulgar outbursts, including a February 2021 legislative forum with Rep.
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