LARAMIE (WNE) — The University of Wyoming Police Department and FBI are currently investigating the racist Zoom bombing that took place Feb. 22 during a UW Black History Month forum hosted by the Black Studies Center and African American and Diaspora Studies.

During the event, racist pornographic images were displayed that disrupted a panel discussion on cinematic racist propaganda.

Chad Baldwin, UW’s associate vice president for marketing and communications, said Friday that university police and the UW Information Technology Office are conducting a forensic analysis to determine how the perpetrators were able to navigate the Zoom platform. 

“So far they found three perpetrators came in through virtual private networks (VPNs),” said Baldwin, adding a fourth used a Maryland internet provider. 

Baldwin said there is no evidence to support UW involvement, but officials are still considering potential ways they might further identify the individual in Maryland. 

Speculative evidence suggests the individual(s) responsible for the attack may also be connected to similar attacks that have occurred during other university-hosted virtual Black History Month programs across the nation. Commonalities between the attacks include repetitive racial slurs, Zoom usernames with mocking phrases, racist and homophobic pornographic images/videos and racist remarks in the chat rooms. 

Other universities that have been Zoom-bombed during the month include Penn State, Rutgers University, Rider University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of South Florida and Seattle University. All are conducting investigations, either with local law enforcement or FBI.