PASCO, Wash. – A hacker interrupted a court hearing on Tuesday afternoon by taking over the WebEx video call meeting. The intrusion involved playing pornographic videos along with racist text and slurs.
After the interruption, which lasted around 15 to 30 seconds, the monitor went black. The judge apologized for the incident before the proceedings continued. Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant says that nothing of this caliber has happened in his time at the county.
“It sounds to me like this was an isolated incident. I don’t believe, we have had something similar in the past,” said Prosecutor Sant. “I was able to hear what was displayed. Obviously, that is something that it is extremely inconsistent with what we would expect in our court system.”
Both Benton and Franklin counties use WebEx for court proceedings to display participants and allow viewings for those who cannot come to court physically. Sant says the incident is under investigation and there are a number of things the perpetrator could be charged with.
“Clearly that would seem appropriate for some type of, contempt, charge. But we would also look at potentially, other charges that could be included even up to a C felony,” said Sant.
According to a press release from Benton County Wednesday evening, the WebEx client will suspend for all Benton and Franklin County Superior Court hearings.
Katie DoValle, Communications Coordinator at Benton County writes quote,
“Effective immediately, participation in Court proceedings via WebEx will be discontinued until further notice. We kindly request all participants to plan on attending in person for all Superior Court matters. The public is always welcome to observe court proceedings in person.”
