School ‘Zoom-bombed’ during celebration

Lewd images shown, racial slurs made at Lunar New Year event

DANVILLE >> A private school in Danville had its virtual Lunar New Year celebration disrupted by racist language and lewd images, the latest attack against Asian Americans in the Bay Area.

Bay Valley Chinese School was celebrating the Chinese New Year on Friday through an online Zoom event, which was open to the public. But during the celebration, in which children were present, the event was hijacked when “Zoom bombers” used racial slurs directed toward the Chinese American community and exposed themselves.

The school issued a statement to the community over the weekend saying this was the first disruption since it moved its classes to Zoom during the pandemic. The Zoom-bombing was reported to Danville police.

“At this point, through witnesses and available Zoom recording, BVCS identified some possible offenders, showing lewd images and verbalizing racial slurs in the background. We are very frustrated about the hard-to-dodge cybercrime in virtual community events like this and understand the anxiety this incident might have caused our students and guests,” the statement said.

The event’s mistress of ceremony was able to quickly log everyone off and staff was able to later continue the meeting without disruption, careful of whom they allowed into the online celebration, the school said. No other intruders appeared during the rest of the festivities.

“Graphic images and racist language are hurtful and can cause negative impact. We acknowledge the pain caused, and will continue to set online safety as our highest priority by putting in place additional safeguards for future virtual events,” the school statement read.

Bay Valley Chinese School, a private school, has grades kindergarten through the 10th grade and is located on the campus of the Charlotte Wood Middle School in Danville, which is part of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. The school’s goal is to “provide an excellent environment for students to learn Mandarin Chinese language and to explore Chinese culture,” according to its mission statement.

This is the latest attack on the Asian American community in the Bay Area. There have been a string of violent crimes, some targeting the elderly, including a recent attack of a 91-yearold man who was pushed to the ground in Oakland’s