‘Rogue employee’ who hacked New York Post with vile messages says he had ‘emotional tantrum’

Former digital producer described actions as ‘utmost betrayal’

A “rogue employee” who last week hacked the website of The New York Post and posted a number of racist, sexist and violent headlines, has described his actions as the result of an “emotional tantrum”.

Speaking to The Daily Beast newsletter Confider, Miguel Gonzalez, 25, said what he had done was the “utmost betrayal” of the publication.

Mr Gonzalez, a digital producer for the News Corp-owned tabloid, said he used his log-in details to access the Post’s content management system to post the vile and lewd headlines on Thursday morning.

It appears they were then automatically posted to the paper’s Twitter feed and quickly went viral.

Among the fake headlines were a call to assassinate New York progressive Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; disturbing posts threatening the lives of Joe Biden and Hunter Biden; one accusing Texas Governor Greg Abbott of advocating lethal force at the border; and a faked threat against Rep Josh Gottheimer and family by Republican opponent Frank Pallotta.

There were also two false and defamatory quotes purported to be from New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin about his midterms opponent Governor Kathy Hochul and New York Mayor Eric Adams which included threats of sexual violence and racist epithets.

Citing an “emotional tantrum”, Mr Gonzalez told Confider: “I let my own stupidity get the best of me.”

He stressed that the incident was in no way politically motivated but was a reaction to personal troubles.

“I deserved to get fired for a very volatile, irresponsible, and disgusting action and an utmost betrayal of The New York Post,” he said. “I disrespected them at that moment. It’s my responsibility to now apologise.”

He added: “I’m probably going to be blacklisted everywhere as I seek employment. What I did was horrible. It was my mistake and I owe a lot of people apologies.”

Mr Gonzalez lives in New Jersey and took a job with the Post in 2019 after finishing college. He wants to stay in journalism and has applied for jobs at Gothamist and New York Public Radio, but understands that it may be a hard path back into journalism.

According to staffers at the Post, while there was initial panic and confusion, things quickly returned to business as usual.

The fake headlines were removed and automated tweets deleted, and it was quickly discovered that it had been internal sabotage.

In a statement provided to The Independent at the time, confirming earlier reporting by CNN that a “rogue employee” was responsible, a spokesperson for the Post said: “The New York Post’s investigation indicates that the unauthorised conduct was committed by an employee, and we are taking appropriate action.”

It continues: “This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts.”

By lunchtime, an updated statement said that an employee had been terminated.