Salem Police Open Hate Crime Probe After Church Gets Zoom-Bombed

SALEM, MA — Police are investigating a possible hate crime after hackers played a Ku Klux Klan video and made racist comments during a Salem church's online service Sunday.

"People watching were shocked, horrified, and scared," Rev. Joe Amico of Tabernacle Congregational Church told Wicked Local Salem, which first reported this story. Amico believes more than one person was involved in the attack.

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The problem has increased during the coronavirus pandemic as more people move meetings, classes and religious services online to platforms like Zoom. Last month, the FBI's office in Boston said it was seeing an increase in reports of so-called "Zoom-bombing. During an online Salem City Council meeting in March, an undetermined number of people started posting racist messages for all participants to see.

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Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).