Fayetteville funeral service Zoom feed bombarded with racist, homophobic images

Family and friends had gathered – at Wiseman Mortuary and online – to mark the passing of Linda Rivera.

Her husband of 42 years, Joe Rivera, said everything was going fine until the Zoom video started to roll.

"First, I saw my son going towards the back. So I was trying to see ... what's going on. So I went back there and said, "Larry, what's going on?' He said, 'Pop, you're not going to believe it. This is what's going on,'" recalled Joe Rivera.

Joe Rivera said someone hacked the Zoom feed provided by the funeral home and replaced it with pornography and racial attacks.

"[There was] gay pornography, naked women and SpongeBob calling the family the n-word," he said.

Joe Rivera said about 150 people - including children - were inside the funeral home when the images appeared on the monitors for about 30 seconds.

But the family said the uncut Zoom broadcast was seen by the family and friends around the world for about 20 minutes before it was shut down.

"We're received screenshots from Africa, India, Korea, Hawaii and all over the United States," said Larry Rivera.

Wiseman Mortuary funeral director Valdus Lockhart confirmed the feed was hacked and that there wasn't a professional technician on hand to take control.

"I am very sorry that it happened," said Lockhart. "It is hard to take control of it. We have to report it to Zoom. We removed those people from the rooms. Occasionally, we have to lock the meetings so others can't get in."

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After the pornographic feed was shut down, family members said the celebration went off without a hitch.

Lockhart said the funeral home plans to hire a professional to handle Zoom feeds to make sure something similar doesn't happen again.