More Withheld Records Have Been Released Revealing the Real Story of the Zoombomber

By Marty Benson

After almost three years of delay, the truth is finally being exposed. On Monday, November 6, 2023 the following statement was read at the Acton Select Board meeting.

Tonight, I would like to provide the Town and the Select Board with information that the Town Manger was obligated to have provided nearly three years ago.

During the School Committee Meeting on December 17, 2020, multiple residents spoke during public participation to voice their objections to the School Committee’s recent vote to retire the Colonial Mascot, in direct violation of the committee’s naming policy.  Halfway through the meeting, Superintendent Peter Light stopped the discussion to alert everyone that the comment section, which was visible only to the School Committee members, had been zoom bombed with racist language.  Immediately multiple members of the School Committee without any evidence accused the Colonial Mascot supporters of being behind the attack.

The following day on December 18, 2020, the Acton Select Board held an emergency meeting to charge the Town Manger with authorizing the Police Department to investigate and determine who was responsible for the zoom bombing.  The Town Manager was to report back to the Board with the findings. 

To add more fuel to the fire, during the school day on December 18, 2020, administrators informed staff members and students that Colonial Mascot supporters were responsible for the attack.  Later that day, the School District issued a statement with a corresponding video which blamed the incident on Colonial Mascot supporters.  Over the next few weeks as the zoom bombing incidents continued, many maintained that Colonial Mascot supporters were responsible for these incidents as well.

Then on the evening of January 13, 2021, the police department released an opaque statement which said, “Acton Police have determined that the individual has no apparent connection to Acton or Boxborough, and is believed to have learned about the scheduled meetings online.”  Still, Mr. Light and Mr. Martin refused to correct their past statements laying blame on Colonial mascot supporters.  Further, others in the community argued that the phrase “No apparent connection”, implied the investigation was still ongoing.

On March 1, 2021, Mr. Mangiaratti was asked to provide an update during the Select Board’s meeting.  In his update regarding the incident, Mr. Mangiaratti stated, “The update is that there is no update to the investigation.  Because of a juvenile being involved, there is very little that can and will be released.” 

This response indicated that the investigation was not being properly overseen. Under the Public Records Law, all information regarding this investigation could be released with the exception of the juvenile’s name.  While the Town did provide some additional information to news outlets, the Town Manager has never provided a public statement with the final conclusion of the investigation.  Further, Mr. Martin continued to contend publicly that the Colonial Mascot supporters were in fact responsible.

In order to learn more, I submitted a records request to the Town on 4/20/2022, seeking records related to the zoom bombing and the retirement of the Colonial Mascot.  From the start, the Town’s response was not compliant with the law as it did not disclose which records were being withheld and under what legal exemptions.  The Town’s refusal to comply resulted in the filing of a series of appeals with the Secretary of State’s Office.

While those appeals were being adjudicated, a review of the records which the Town had provided revealed that the Town Manager had not overseen the investigation in an impartial manner.  Despite warnings from the Chief of Police, who provided Mr. Mangiaratti and Mr. Light with an FBI bulletin addressing the increased level of Zoom bombing incidents nationwide, the two worked together and distributed the School’s District statement which unjustly accused a group of residents for the Zoom Bombing.  This statement was issued less than 24 hours after the incident.  Over the next few weeks the duo openly discussed “how to bring the town forward” following the Zoom bombing incident and the retirement of the mascot. Before waiting for the results of the investigation, the pair even hired outside groups such as Community Circles and Visions on the grounds that supporters of the Colonial Mascot had zoom bombed the School Committee.  This is hardly the behavior expected from the official overseeing the investigation.

The records also revealed that 7 News had inquired about the Town’s withholding of two videos of joint police and FBI interviews with the Zoom bomber and his family.  7 News requested that the Town, in compliance with the public records law, provide a redacted transcript of the interviews with the suspect.  The Town refused this request and improperly cited the Investigatory and Privacy exemptions of the public records law as justification for their withholding of the interviews.

Following a series of appeals, on December 30, 2022, the Town provided me with a response which acknowledged the withholding of the interview videos.  Yet, the Town was not willing to release them.  After filing my sixth appeal, The Secretary of State on July 13, 2023 in case SPR23/1499, stated “…it is unclear how the Town Cannot redact the videos or provide a transcript to preserve witness anonymity.”

Eventually on September 11, 2023, Town Counsel provided me with a redacted transcript of both interviews.  These interviews with the Zoom Bomber and his family members were conducted on January 13, 2021, and confirm that the juvenile acted alone.  He had no connection to Acton or Boxborough.  The link to the meeting simply appeared in his YouTube feed. He affirmed that he was not targeting anyone, rather he was imitating a prank he had seen online.  Most importantly, on page 24 is an acknowledgement by the detective affirming that the interview would be considered a public record in Massachusetts and available to anyone upon request.  The detective’s statement and the Secretary of States’ ruling confirms that the Town had no legal basis to withhold this interview.  

The fact that Town Counsel and Town Officials illegally withheld this document from all who requested it is simply inexcusable.  The Town Manager easily could have released this transcript AT LEAST TWO AND A HALF YEARS EARLIER, which would have put an immediate end to the false allegations. 

It is my opinion that Mr. Mangiaratti should step down. The Select Board had authorized him to oversee an investigation and report back with the findings. Instead of staying neutral, he worked with Peter Light to falsely insinuate that specific community members were responsible for the racist zoom bombing.  This was all in an effort to intimidate residents of the Town from advocating on behalf of the Colonial mascot.

Additionally, these findings open up the Town, School District, and members of this board to legal action.  The Select Board has an obligation  to perform the following.

1) To address this issue as an agenda item at the next meeting.  Mr. Mangiaratti can report back and issue a clarifying statement regarding the findings of the investigation, while also issuing an apology for his actions.

2) That this transcript be placed on the Town website for all to see, and that the statements already posted regarding the zoom bombing incident be updated to accurately reflect the findings of the investigation. 

3). That Mr. Martin and Ms. Nichol, publicly apologize for accusing the Colonial Mascot supporters of being responsible for the zoom bombing without any evidence. In our legal system, people are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.  Our elected leaders have no right to falsely accuse people who don’t share their political viewpoints on specific topics of committing “hate crimes” in order to silence them.