#Racist hacker threatened to kill black city council candidate

A black city council candidate in Illinois received racist death threats during a Zoom call with other Democrats – with the unhinged hacker threatening to shoot her, according to reports.

Carolyn Murray, who hopes to become an alderman in Evanston’s 5th Ward, was interviewing for an endorsement from the city’s Democratic Party on Sunday when an unauthorized participant started sending racist messages in the virtual meeting, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The hacker then took over the audio controls and used a racial slur to threaten to shoot Murray and other black city residents “like they did to Carolyn’s son,” according to Eamon Kelly, Evanston’s Democratic committeeman.

“It was a racialized attack,” Kelly told the Daily Northwestern. “But Carolyn is not going to be deterred, the Democratic Party is not going to be deterred, and we’re gonna cooperate fully with the police and we’re gonna find out who did it.”

Murray’s son, Justin, was fatally shot outside his grandmother’s house in 2012, the Tribune reported.

The hacker also sent messages to people on the Zoom call saying “Trump 2024” and posted Murray’s home address, as well as that of others on the call.

“They audio-bombed it and they called me the N-word, they said they killed Justin and they would kill me,” Murray told the newspaper. “They put people’s address on the chat.”

The hateful incident prompted dozens of supporters to hold a candlelight vigil at Murray’s home late Sunday.

“Everybody can be discriminated against, and that’s something that we cannot tolerate,” Police Chief Demitrous Cook said. “It’s a very difficult time in America. It’s time for all of us to stand up as brothers and sisters.”

Evanston police are investigating the incident.

Murray, meanwhile, told her supporters at Sunday’s vigil she won’t be intimidated by the death threat, the Daily Northwestern reported.

“You all came out because you heard the call to say something, to take action against racism,” Murray told the crowd of more than 40.

“My name is Carolyn Murray. You came against me. You can came against my children. You came against my town. You came against my country, and I’m gonna tell you, ‘I ain’t scared.’”

A message seeking comment from Evanston police was not immediately returned Tuesday.