Pornographic video aired during Kamloops city council meeting

The City of Kamloops is issuing a public apology for what it’s calling "inappropriate behavior" that happened during Tuesday's council meeting.

It’s known as “Zoom-bombing” and is a form of cyber harassment in which a hacker displays unwanted and disruptive imagery during a video conference.

"All of a sudden it was just shocking what I was seeing, and everyone was just yelling to 'cut the feed, cut the feed,'” said Bill Sarai, a Kamloops city councillor.

The incident happened during the public inquiry portion of the council meeting, where residents are welcome to attend the podium or dial in via video conference to air their concerns or opinions.

When a person joined on Zoom, Sarai says, a disturbing, pornographic video was aired across the livestream instead.

He calls the situation a “mockery” of city council, but also says it’s just the latest in a string of attacks on council members during the public inquiries period.

“It’s mentally and physically exhausting,” he says.

Following Tuesday’s incident, he made a motion to put an end to the public inquiry session, pointing to other communities, such as Prince George, that have also done away with the process.

“We have people in the in the gallery that are waiting for their permits and our decisions on huge developments. That's not fair to them, nor us,” he said.

The City of Kamloops says it is looking into a screening process for meetings in the meantime.

"If someone participates through Zoom we can completely turn off the ability for them to show their camera or share any of their screen,” said Kuldeep Bath, the city's IT manager.

"We're also looking into options to have more verified, enhanced identities."

Kamloops RCMP say they have been given the video and are investigating the incident. Charges have not yet been recommended, but a spokesperson says police are considering charges under the indecent communications portion of section 372 of the Criminal Code.