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Alexis Krot, a Michigan judge, apologized after threatening an elderly cancer patient with jail time due to some unruly weeds in his front yard. I made a mistake,” Krot said in a statement. She’s also reported herself to a state commission that probes judicial misbehavior.
Krot’s comments occurred in a court hearing via Zoom call, which then spread through social media. The clip shows Judge Krot telling a visibly sick man that he should be ashamed” of the state of his house. If I could give you jail time on this, I would,” she said, threatening him with jail a second time when the meeting was ending. If you come back here, you’re going to jail.”
The man, whose name is Burhan Chowdhury, was visibly struggling to breathe. I am a cancer patient, very old, ma’am,” he said. His son also interjected to explain the health of his father.
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Aside from calling the judge unprofessional and rude, many people viewed her comments as racist, purposefully intimidating a sick man whose first language is not English.
When I was a child I would go to interpret for my parents and I would get so intimidated by the judge that I wouldn’t even be able to interpret or translate for my parents,” said Rebeka Islam to USA Today. She is a resident of Hamtramck, the area where Chowdry lives, and the executive director of the civic engagement group APIA Vote-MI.
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I made a mistake,” Judge Alexis G. Krot said in a statement on Thursday. I acted intemperately. I’m very embarrassed that I did so. I apologize to the person who appeared before me and to our entire community for having failed to meet the high standards that we expect of our judicial officers, and that I expect of myself.”
Her apology follows a Change.org petition that has over 230,000 signatures, asking for Krot to be removed from Michigan state court.
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