Feds: Teens from Mint Hill participated in ‘Zoom bombing’ ring

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) — A Spartanburg teenager was one of a group of people who repeatedly logged into virtual public meetings to shout racial slurs and make threats to public officials, according to a federal indictment.

In May, federal investigators filed a criminal complaint against Mohammad Amr Alashemi, aka Inseeno, an Albanian man living in England.

Alashemi has been charged with engaging in repeated harassing communication, engaging in anonymous telecommunications harassment, transmitting threatening communications, and conspiracy.

According to federal investigators, Alhashemi orchestrated a series of “Zoom bombs” during multiple meetings of the Fresno City Council and a virtual Jewish religious service in New Mexico.

Disruptions often came in the form of repeatedly using racial slurs or making threats against officials.

Investigators were able to identify Alashemi, along with multiple others who participated in the disruptive behavior, through their IP addresses.

One of those IP addresses brought them to Spartanburg, where investigators interviewed “R.B.,” an unnamed juvenile with “a history of making threats.”

According to the indictment, the teenager logged into meetings under the names of characters from the video games “Red Dead Redemption” and “Red Dead Redemption 2.” They also used the name “Calvin Lee Vail,” the real name of former content creator LeafyIsHere, who was banned after allegations of cyberbullying arose, and Juliet Capulet, the titular character of the play “Romeo and Juliet.”

According to the indictment, in 2020, investigators executed a search warrant on R.B.’s computer and found messages on Discord regarding the Fresno City Council meetings, including a link to join the meeting and urging others to join in disrupting the meeting.

R.B. was not the only minor involved in the Zoom raids. According to the indictment, Alashemi, through communications platforms like Guilded and Discord, recruited teens from Mint Hill, North Carolina, Caldwell, New Jersey, and other areas to disrupt virtual meetings.

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