An “unauthorized individual accessed” and disrupted the Baltimore City Public Schools board of commissioners meeting this week with “antisemitic, racist and obscene adult content,” the district stated on Wednesday.
“This appalling act, which is being investigated as a hate crime, undoubtedly impacted and caused harm to members of our school community,” the Baltimore City Public Schools wrote. “We strongly and unequivocally renounce this criminal act.”
The content displayed was “deeply offensive, threatening and inappropriate in nature,” the statement read.
The Baltimore Zionist District criticized the district’s response, stating that the “explicit image,” which it said featured swastikas and phrases including “Heil Hitler and “kill Jews,” was clear Jew-hatred.
“This was not simply ‘graphic’ or ‘offensive.’ It was antisemitism, pure and simple,” the group wrote. “Attempts to minimize it with generic labels erase the truth and downplay the harm to our community.”
As soon as the board became aware of the display, the meeting was briefly recessed to determine the “safest way to proceed,” the school district stated, noting that the meeting then continued in person with a recording to be shared.
“In our haste to communicate about pausing the meeting, we regret that we failed to acknowledge the harm that the image caused,” the district wrote.
The Baltimore City School Police, with the assistance of the Baltimore Police Department, are investigating the incident, the school district stated, adding that it is “working proactively to establish additional preventive protocols and countermeasures to ensure that the platforms used by our staff and students are secure.”
