Leechburg Area School Board meeting ends abruptly when 'Zoom-bomber' shares pornographic image

The Leechburg Area School Board ended its Wednesday meeting early after someone attending online aired a pornographic image.

The school board was winding down its work session and was set to begin its regular meeting, when the pornographic image first appeared.

“Oh dear, we just got ‘Zoom-bombed,’ I apologize,” Board Secretary Patricia Tarr said. “I don’t know if anyone else saw that.”

“I did,” School Director Karen Freilino said. “That’s not right.”

The school board has been holding meetings via Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday’s meeting was a combined work session and regular meeting.

It was business as usual until the “Zoom-bomber” appeared, shocking the people in attendance online.

“Zoom-bombing” is a new kind of attack in which bad actors enter Zoom video meetings, shout slurs and threats, or share inappropriate images such as pornography, in an attempt to disrupt them, according to The Guardian.

“I dearly apologize — there is no way to stop this,” Tarr said.

School Board President Neill Brady called off the meeting at 8:40 p.m. and apologized to the roughly 40 people in attendance online.

He suggested having future participants register by providing their full name, address and phone number.

“I apologize for the lewdness on the screen,” Brady said by phone after the meeting concluded. “Nobody needs to see that stuff. You just feel bad when people come to a public meeting and that happens.”

Brady said district officials will look to see if the internet protocol (IP) address of the Zoom-bomber can be traced to try to identify them and possibly press charges.

Brady also wants to look into whether the district can limit the ability for participants to share screens.

“It’s just a shame,” Brady said. “Public meetings are open to anybody, and that creates security problems.”

The meeting will be rescheduled for a later date. It will be posted on the district’s website.