Burhan Chowdhury is a 72-year-old cancer patient who recently had to appear in court over Zoom in front of Judge Alexis Krot.
He had not been able to keep up on the weeds that had overgrown in the alley behind his home and was facing a $100 fine over it.
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While he was speaking to the judge, he tried to explain why he wasn’t able to upkeep the weeds but he didn’t speak enough English to get his point across. His son was also there to try to help him explain but it seems as if the judge wasn’t hearing it. She showed absolutely no empathy.
Chowdhury had not been able to clean up the weeds because he was too sick battling cancer and his son had been out of the country at the time, so he couldn’t help. Rather than giving him some leniency, especially considering his health, she decided to lean on him.
Not only did she tell him that it was shameful that he would leave his property like it was, but she also continually said “shame on you.” Despite the fact that they’d already cleaned the property, she told him that she would throw him in jail if she could and added a second time, “If you come back here, you’re going to jail.”
Watch the clip below to see for yourself:
The backlash from what she did to this man was quick in coming. Well over 250,000 people have already signed a change.org petition to remove her as a judge.
In order to save face, she issued an apology in a statement, saying: “I made a mistake. 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.”
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She also said that she expects people to own up to their mistakes when they appear before her so she expects the same thing from herself.
According to the Detroit Free Press, she also plans on reporting her misconduct to the state commission that probes judicial misbehavior.