Hackers changed the messages on some newly-installed crosswalks in Denver, Colorado, to play messages criticizing President Donald Trump—to the delight of anti-Trumpers.
The crosswalk push-buttons were newly installed and “still bagged,” operating on factory settings that included a default password easily found online, according to Nancy Kuhn of the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. She said the password has now been changed and officials “don’t expect a repeat situation" at these locations.
Videos that went viral show a crosswalk with a robotic voice saying:
"The walk signal is on, f**k Trump."
You can hear the message below.
In another, a robotic voice makes what appears to be a reference to the killing of schoolgirls in Iran on the first day that the U.S. launched strikes on the country:
"The walk signal is on. Trump murders children."
You can hear the message below.
Damian Meldgaard, a local resident, said:
“I was surprised, I had to gather myself and think, ‘Did I really hear that?’ And then I was enamored."
"I loved it, it made my day, it was absolutely what I wanted to hear. I kinda wanted my own recording just for my own personal sense of self-satisfaction.”
You can see a news report about the messages below.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
People applauded the prank.
Last year, hackers programmed pedestrian crosswalks across Silicon Valley in northern California to play fake messages mocking billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk.
The unexpected messages were heard in Palo Alto, Redwood City, and Menlo Park—home to Zuckerberg's expansive Meta headquarters. In one instance, a Musk impersonator offered passing pedestrians a Tesla Cybertruck in exchange for friendship.
Another message, mimicking Zuckerberg, quipped, “Real ones call me The Zuck" and mentioned how he is inserting AI "into every facet of your conscious experience."
City of Palo Alto spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor told Business Insider that a city employee first noticed a malfunction in the voice announcement system at one crosswalk. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that 12 additional crosswalks were experiencing the same issue.
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