Plantation Council meeting is ‘porn bombed’

PLANTATION — Plantation’s virtual City Council meeting flashed to horrified members of the public with mouths open and their hands on their heads. A man’s voice was heard screaming expletives.

The government meeting was abruptly stopped on Sept. 29 when it was “porn bombed” with screenshots and audio from porn videos.

After the meeting was halted, it was restarted by

City Clerk Susan Slattery. But again, screenshots of “hot porn videos” took over the meeting. “We need to stop the meeting,” Slattery said. “We keep being hacked. There’s inappropriate things coming up on the screen. I’m shutting it down.”

Throughout the country, gatherings have dealt with the same problem when hackers seize on virtual opportunities to create chaos and embarrassing moments:

In early April, a man exposed himself to middle-school students after hacking into an online math class in Apopka, Florida.

In Connecticut, an attention-seeking juvenile was arrested after police accused him of hijacking a series of online classes with “obscene language and gestures.”

In South Florida, a masked man hijacked an online class at West Broward High School during the first week of classes and went on a racist video rant.

A Plantation police report was filed over the hacked meeting, and police Thursday said they are still investigating what happened. “Investigations of this nature take time,” said police spokesman Detective Robert Rettig.

Plantation’s Sept. 29 virtual meeting in Plantation had been called by Council Member Denise Horland. She had wanted to raise her “concern about what I perceive to be a toxic work environment.”

She contended about 20 employees have either been pushed to resign, fired, or chose to take early retirement, which “creates a climate of instability and effects service.”

Of her greatest concern is Danny Ezzeddine, the former building director. “Directors and staff have been put in a potion to compromise personal and professional integrity,” she said.

On Thursday, Mayor Lynn Stoner said staff changes are for the betterment of the city. She called Horland’s accusations “reckless and unsubstantiated comments,” and said Ezzeddine was fired for his unwillingness to work with multiple clients. A letter sent to Ezzeddine said he was being let go because of “continued complaint issues” over two years with “no marked improvement.”

At the meeting, Council President Nick Sortal asked Ezzeddine if he wants his job back, and got a thumbs up. Then the meeting quickly went bad when a pornographic image took up the screen.

Ezzeddine has since submitted his resignation.