A trio of speakers “Zoombombed” the public comment period of an online Brookline Commission for Women meeting last week, making antisemitic, racist, and sexist comments.
The Commission for Women is the latest town body to experience a disruption of this nature. The Police Commissioners Advisory Committee and the MLK Celebration Committee have also been Zoombombed in recent months.
Brookline is not alone. At least one hundred cities and towns across the country have dealt with similar intrusions of hate speech in the last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
The series of comments at last week’s Commission for Women meeting lasted roughly three minutes, beginning about six minutes into the meeting. The speakers used pseudonyms and kept their cameras off.
“I just want to say feminism is Jewish and Jews are, you know, the children of Satan,” said one woman, who used a pseudonym relating to a racial slur to identify herself.
The other two speakers made comments that included hateful speech against Jewish and Black people.
Click here to watch video of the public comment portion of the meeting.
Elizabeth Stillman, the chair of the Commission for Women, said that she could not stop the speakers because of the First Amendment, which restricts how governments can regulate speech.
Comments made at the Commission for Women meeting followed the same blueprint as previous recent Zoombombings in Brookline.
At an October 2023 Police Commissioners Advisory Committee meeting conducted in a hybrid format, five speakers made racist, antisemitic, and anti-immigrant comments, about an hour and fifteen minutes into the recorded meeting.
At a February 1 MLK Celebration Committee meeting online, three speakers made antisemitic and racist comments, according to Bernard Greene, the chair of both the committee and the town’s Select Board. The meeting was not recorded.
Lloyd Gellineau, the town’s chief diversity officer, said town forum hosts are not always able to stop Zoombombing during public comment periods.
“They use pseudonyms, they’re very fast, they get on and off, they know what they’re doing, and the problem is we have no legal recourse, especially if it’s not legally threatening anyone or inciting violence,” Gellineau said. “They’re well within their First Amendment rights, especially during public comment periods.”
None of the comments made at recent meetings have risen to the level of criminal conduct, according to Paul Campbell, a deputy superintendent at the Brookline Police Department.
At some of the meetings that were Zoombombed, the chair of the committee or commission cut speakers off when their comments veered outside the body’s scope.
The Police Commissioners Advisory Committee adopted a public comment policy last month which permits the committee’s chair to end a commenter’s speaking time if their comment “does not address a topic” within the committee’s charge.
The Commission for Women and the MLK Celebration Committee are likely to adopt their own public comment policies shortly, said Caitlin Starr, the assistant director of the town’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Relations Office.
Greene said he is concerned by the pattern of Zoombombings at recent Brookline meetings.
“My guess is this is an organized attack to terrorize particularly Black people or women,” he said. “It’s part of the overall climate that is attempting to incite hatred or discord.”