Sac State talent show interrupted by racist comments
Investigation indicated that the users could not be tied to the university
(Paul Hudson/CC BY 2.0)
December 4, 2020
CONTENT WARNING: The following article contains images of racial slurs and other offensive language used in Zoom chat by two users.
Two users attending “Sac State’s Got Talent” Dec. 3 via Zoom filled the chat with racial slurs.
The slurs came after the talent show, hosted on a livestream by UNIQUE, had ended and the judges went into a separate breakout room to decide the winner.
A person going by the username “David Winley” on the Zoom call, posted this message:
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Shortly after, a person going by the username “Mike Nicholas” posted the message: “Just going to be honest fuck Black Lives Matter, George Floyd od on drugs.”
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In a statement on Instagram, UNIQUE said that they did not condone any of the racist comments made at the event.
View this post on Instagram
Brian Blomster, director of news and communications for Sac State sent The State Hornet a statement regarding the incident:
“Sacramento State condemns the hateful, racist comments that were posted during the ‘Sac State’s Got Talent’ event. Those words and the thinking they represent stand in stark opposition to the antiracist principles held by the University. There is no place for hate here.”
Wednesday Blomster said that Mark Hendricks, interim vice president & chief information officer of Information Resources and Technology, had investigated the incident and “indicated that the offensive remarks were not local users and he could not associate them with the university.”
Blomster said he could not specifically say what the punishment would be if it were found that the comments were made by Sac State students, but said that it would be judged by the student honor code.
“Such comments could be considered a Hornet honor code violation, and sanctions based on such violations could be imposed,” Blomster said via email.
Additional reporting by Dylan McNeill
Matthew Ashby • Dec 4, 2020 at 5:10 pm
I am a proud hornet. Who loves Sac State commitment to diversity. That is why every time I walk past the fox new van on campus I feel confused. .
Iris Bastet • Dec 4, 2020 at 12:30 pm
I think moving forward all zoom events need to have a protective password in order to avoid this. Zoom bombs are so disgusting. People have way too much time on their hands and let’s not be stupid this was done by sac state students.