City Council Can't ID Person Who Yelled Racial Slurs at Kids, but Denver Rallies Around Victims

The anonymous person who shouted racial slurs at Black elementary students during a Denver City Council meeting earlier this month likely won't be identified — but community leaders are working to make sure the kids come out on top.

Council spokesperson Robert Austin says there is "no practical way" to find the perpetrator, as they committed the racist rant over Zoom, presumably used a fake name and never turned on their camera. He says the speaker's IP address was tracked to the Netherlands, which staff believe was due to a VPN, and their Zoom name was listed as Charla Nash, the name of a woman who was infamously mauled by a chimpanzee in 2009.

"We don’t see any viable way to identify the speaker, so we are concentrating on prevention and control," Austin says, noting that the culprit was also not registered to testify during public comment or any of the council hearings that night.

The incident occurred on May 13, when two fourth- and fifth-grade girls from Monarch Montessori spoke during the council's weekly public comment session, requesting assistance in getting a yurt for their school. Less than a minute into their testimony, a voice from the online Zoom shouted at the girls to "go back to fucking Africa," followed by a series of insults and racial slurs.

Council staff unsuccessfully tried to mute the anonymous speaker, but the racist diatribe continued for around thirty seconds, with the female-sounding voice repeatedly calling the children the N-word before the Zoom was eventually disconnected. The incident left one of the girls in tears and unable to continue her speech.

While the perpetrator seemingly won't face any repercussions, the Denver community has rallied to support the victims.

Numerous city officials attended the girls' continuation ceremony last week, including city council members and representatives from the mayor's office, the Denver Public Schools Board, the Montbello Organizing Committee and the Denver chapter of the NAACP. The guests brought a video filmed by Black leaders "showing support for student engagement in civic processes and support for the girls," says Laura Pretty, executive director of Monarch Montessori.

According to Pretty, councilmembers had already met with two other students who were signed up to testify about safe crossing areas around the school but couldn't comment during the council meeting because of the racist incident.

"The city council has been incredibly supportive of the girls and the school. Their continuation ceremony was beautiful, and I think all four girls have felt much love from around the city," Pretty says.

During the May 13 council meeting, the fourth-grader said her school wants a yurt to use as additional classroom space, but the school has struggled to obtain the necessary building permits. Pretty says the school is now "making good progress" in fulfilling the girls' request for a yurt.

A GoFundMe raising money for the yurt had collected over $2,200 as of May 29, and at least one councilmember, Shontel Lewis, committed to helping the school. Pretty says the city is assisting them in getting permits for the yurt, though they're still waiting on approval from the state and the Denver Fire Department. The city is also looking at traffic flow around the school to help address the other students' concerns. 

"I desperately wish there was a force field against hatred," a donor from Australia wrote on the GoFundMe. "Get that yurt, girls!"

This was the first time Monarch Montessori had organized students to speak at a city council meeting as part of an effort to raise up student voices. Denver recently expanded public comment sessions to prioritize first-time speakers and people under the age of eighteen.

Pretty says she hopes to salvage the experience for the girls, fearing that what happened "could scare a young person away from engaging in democratic systems and using their voice."

Denver City Council is planning its own student event on June 3 that the girls have been invited to, Pretty says. In the meantime, the council is focusing on preventing harassment from happening at future meetings, according to Austin.

Council staff referred to the incident as a "breach" in the Zoom. Typically, audience members who watch the public sessions over Zoom are muted and unable to speak until it is their turn to comment. The council's administrative staff and the Denver Office of Technology Services are reviewing logs and procedures to determine how the breach occurred, according to a statement.

The incident clarified that the council's event producer can remove an online speaker who disrupts the meeting "in the same way the sheriff in the chamber can remove someone who disrupts the proceeding in person," Austin says. Any changes to virtual back-end protocols won't be revealed publicly, in order to avoid giving hackers information on how to circumvent a new system, he adds.

Other Colorado cities, including Lakewood and Castle Rock, have limited or eliminated remote testimony options because of similar racist and anti-Semitic abuse during public comment sessions. Denver is not considering such restrictions.

"I do not see us dropping the option to participate virtually, as this council is committed to public participation," Austin says. "I’d expect any changes to be in the background, and not in the public experience of participating in the meeting."