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Activist Calls Judge "Racist White Pig," Gets 10 Days In Rikers
By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 15, 2012
Modified May 16, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published May 15, 2012
Modified May 16, 2012
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An activist protesting the NYPD's stop-and-frisk tactics was held in contempt of court on Friday, and sentenced to ten days in jail, after she called Judge John H. Wilson a "white racist pig." In 2006 Judge Wilson penned a children's book called Hot House Flowers, which was an allegory for illegal immigration that depicted immigrants as dandelions that should be "weeded out." A man videotaping the exchange was also handcuffed, and had the contents of his camera deleted by court employees.
According to the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Christina Gonzalez was at Brooklyn Criminal Court for a hearing related to her arrest at a stop-and-frisk rally in Brownsville back in October, and was told to sit down by Judge Wilson after she asked court clerks a question concerning her attorney, who wasn't able to be present that day.
"The rest of us used Legal Aid, but she had a private attorney," said another activist, Nick Malinowski, who was also arrested at the Brownsville demonstration and witnessed the incident.
When her case was called, Gonzalez entered Wilson's courtroom, but apparently didn't understand that she wasn't supposed to, and Judge Wilson ordered her to be handcuffed. That's when she became "indignant" and asked a fellow defendant to tell her employer that she was being "arrested by a white racist pig." Judge Wilson demanded that Gonzalez apologize, and when she didn't, held her in contempt, and sentenced her to ten days in jail. "She was pretty loud, when she said it," Malinowski said. "Another guy started filming, and the judge ordered him to be handcuffed too. They led him away to a sort of cage next to the courtroom. It was a pretty unusual situation." Malinowski adds that the man filming was unknown to any of the activists. Gonzalez remains at Rikers Island, serving her sentence.
"It sounds like Judge Wilson found Ms. Gonzalez in summary contempt," Gideon Oliver, president of the National Lawyers Guild—New York City chapter, tells us. "Her attorney could have appealed that almost immediately." As for court employees deleting footage of the encounter from the man's camera, Oliver says, "Even if he violated the rule which prohibits filming in the courtroom, unless he consented, or officers had a warrant, it sounds like the court employees were overreaching."
We're attempting to get in touch with Gonzalez and her attorney, but in the meantime, enjoy an excerpt from this one-star review of Hot House Flowers on Amazon:
It's very difficult for me to give this book merely one star. After all, how can a true American patriot not love a children's story in which a "benevolent master" saves a hot house by rounding up undesirables and destroying them? Unfortunately, the list of undesirable plants the master eliminates is limited to simply dandelions. That's very disappointing.
Surely others could be added to that list. How about plants with minor defects? Why should the hot house's resources be shared with them? The same goes for gardenias. I think most of the other flowers would be offended by the fertilizer gardenias enjoy. And do I even have to mention the pansies?
Tagged
Christina Gonzalez
contempt of court
nypd
stop and frisk
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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