“I was mad as hell,” St. Lucie Schools Superintendent Wayne Gent said late last week following a hack of the school district’s Twitter account. Hours later, he said he was still mad, “very upset and very angry.”
The district’s Twitter feed was hacked sometime overnight Thursday into Friday and the hacker posted multiple offensive tweets, including a notorious historic photo of a lynching.
“The very nature of the posting itself was horrific,” Gent said during the press conference.
“This is a hate crime,” he said. “And I hope it will be viewed that way.”
The St. Lucie County School District discovered the offensive tweets around 6:30 a.m. Friday, June 30, and contacted the Fort Pierce Police Department as well as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, all while the district’s information technology staff attempted to reach Twitter to have the tweets removed.
Police spokesman Ed Cunningham said the agency is continuing its investigation and has labeled the hack a “hate crime,” which means more severe punishment if a suspect were convicted.
“We think we know how it was done,” Public Information Officer Cunningham said, explaining that it appears the district’s Twitter account did not follow the posted security protocol. Hackers were able to take ownership of the account @StLucieSchools and lock out the district staff.
Angela Starke, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said the agency is providing assistance to the Fort Pierce Police Department, but is not overseeing the case. Starke added that the agency is not aware of any other Twitter hacks from around the same time in Florida – though it’s possible hacks have gone unnoticed or unreported.
One of the tweets said the School District had decided “to ban all African Americans” from the district.
Another tweet showed the lynching deaths of two people.
“It was highly offensive,” Gent said. “It doesn’t represent anything our school district represents – our values, our mission.
“It was a sickening display of somebody,” he added.
Cunningham said he had heard through media reports a hacker group had taken responsibility for the hack and the posts. The group calls itself Cryo Squad. He said they are investigating the lead.
Cunningham added that, because of reports of other Twitter hacks around the country, he believes police investigators are “probably not looking for a local.”
The police department is seeking any information regarding the case. Anyone with such information is encouraged to call Fort Pierce Police Det. Sam Cooper at 772-467-6897.
The agency also encourages all Twitter users to review the security on their own accounts by following Twitter’s security tips.