Explicit content shown in Harris County courtrooms during 'Zoom bombing' incident

Pornographic videos were shown in several Harris County courtrooms Tuesday in what county officials are calling a "Zoom bombing" incident. "Several Harris County Courts at Law experienced zoom bombing — or unauthorized screen sharing — of explicit images during the daily docket this morning. The incidents were quickly reported to court administrative staff, and the feeds were immediately shut down," Holly Huffman, spokesperson for the Harris County Office of Court Management, said in a statement.

Huffman said the incident had been reported to the Harris County Sheriff's Office Judicial Threat Unit for investigation, and that increased security measures have been put in place for Zoom links at all county courts. Up to seven misdemeanor courtrooms were affected, according to ABC13, which first reported the incident. "This is the first instance of unauthorized screen sharing during a County Court at Law proceeding since the 2020 implementation of zoom proceedings in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have provided thousands of hours of online court proceedings since then with no such issue," Huffman said. Huffman said the county is reviewing their security measures "to strike a balance between ensuring public access to the judiciary and preventing such an incident from happening again."