Norwich — Public Safety Committee members and attendees of Thursday’s meeting were shocked when the Zoom video meeting was “bombed” by several people making racist and sexually inappropriate comments, the committee chairman said.

The committee chairman, Alderman Joseph DeLucia, said the meeting was about halfway through the agenda, with participants discussing the COVID-19 impacts on the city, when as many as six people “bombed” the meeting at once.

“A couple of them made sexually inappropriate comments, and a couple others made racially inappropriate comments,” DeLucia said.

DeLucia said he started clicking on the meeting crashers to remove them from the meeting, but new ones would show up. Some were on the Zoom video, though it was unclear whether the images represented the actual people, DeLucia said, and some used the telephone call-in feature.

Police Chief Patrick Daley, a meeting participant, recommended adjourning immediately, DeLucia said.

DeLucia said for future meetings, he will limit the video access to meeting participants, and the general public will be asked to use the telephone call-in. All nonparticipant attendees initially will be placed in the “waiting room” as the meeting progresses until public comment time.

“I was shocked and disappointed,” DeLucia said Thursday night, “that people will be that disruptive and inappropriate during a public meeting.”

c.bessette@theday.com