An online forum for Democratic candidates for Vermont lieutenant governor, which included a Jewish candidate, was interrupted twice in recent weeks by anti-Semites who drew swastikas and wrote “hail Satan.”
Such activity is known as “Zoombombing,” according to the ADL.
“I am in the middle of the hardest forum of my life. We have been zoom bombed twice with Nazi symbols. I am the Jewish candidate in this race. I am shaken,” tweeted Brenda Siegel on April 29.
In a statement, Siegel said that “as a Jewish woman and public figure in Vermont, I have experienced a growing number of anti-Semitic attacks since the election of [U.S. President] Donald Trump. Long simmering beneath the surface, there is a rise of hate in this state.”
The forum, which was hosted by a local Democratic committee and was publicized, consisted of, in both instances, one of the intruders drawing a swastika.
Days afterwards, Siegal tweeted, “I don’t plan on being any less Jewish any time soon. Or any less progressive for that matter. This is who I am, you won’t find me hiding it. This is the whole me.”