Judge In Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Called Out For Strange Joke About 'Asian Food'
The judge presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin, made a joke Thursday that critics slammed as racially charged and inappropriate at the expense of Asian people.
“I hope the Asian food isn’t coming ... isn’t on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor,” Judge Bruce Schroeder said as the court was preparing to adjourn for lunch, evidently referring to the supply-chain backlog at the California port.
#RittenhouseTrial Judge Bruce Schroeder breaks for lunch referencing the food that was ordered saying, “I hope the Asian food isn’t coming.. isn’t on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor.” pic.twitter.com/UakvcxbSO1
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) November 11, 2021
A clip of the moment was viewed nearly 2 million times by Thursday evening.
John C. Yang, executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC, a group that advocates for the civil and human rights of Asian Americans, said the remark could only be seen as a joke at the expense of Asians and Asian Americans.
“Maybe I’m supposed to applaud him for not saying ‘Oriental food,’” Yang tweeted. “During a trial that clearly has race implications, no less. Definitely not okay.”
Maybe I'm supposed to applaud him for not saying "Oriental food." Seriously, this remark can only be seen as a joke at the expense of Asians/Asian Americans. During a trial that clearly has race implications, no less. Definitely not okay. https://t.co/TctwetwAPp
— John C. Yang (@johncyangdc) November 11, 2021
Others said the comment’s effect was to suggest that food from Asian cultures comes in by boat. The beleaguered ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles handle a large amount of imports from across Asia.
Eric Feigl-Ding, a prominent public health scientist and Asian American immigrant, said the comment was racist and unnecessary. “He could have just said the lunch was late,” he tweeted.
2) And yes it is RACIST. The boats in the harbor are majority boats from Asia. And he said Asian food - which further connects the Asian boats. It’s racist c’mon.
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2021
3) Most Chinese-Americans knows the racist idiomatic slang “Slow boat to China” to mock anything that takes a long time. I’m Asian-American immigrant - I heard this crap all the time. It’s racist. He could have just said the lunch was late. https://t.co/lOaeF574xq
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2021
Schroeder has been in the spotlight after Wednesday’s dramatic proceedings, during which he angrily admonished the prosecution and at one point had to silence his cellphone after it played his ringtone, “God Bless the U.S.A.,” a song popular in conservative political circles that has been used as an entrance tune at Donald Trump rallies.
He also made headlines ahead of the trial when he enforced his longstanding rule that prosecutors could not refer to people as “victims” before the jury. They would, however, be permitted to call the people Rittenhouse shot “looters” or “arsonists,” he ruled.
Rittenhouse, 18, is standing trial on murder charges in the fatal shootings of two people at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha last year. He was 17 at the time and has maintained he was acting in self-defense when he shot the two. He also wounded a third person.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
