Judge Bruce Schroeder, the man presiding over the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, is just on fire this week. And by “on fire,” I mean “setting himself on fire” with his ridiculous antics [1].
After shouting at the prosecutor for trying to include evidence of Rittenhouse’s ties to a white nationalist group, then forcing the entire courtroom including the jury to clap for one of the defense witnesses, Schroeder seemed to go off the deep end.
As the court was preparing to recess for lunch, Schroeder declared:
I hope the Asian food isn’t coming… isn’t on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor.
So. Much. To. Unpack.
First of all, at least know the country your food originated in: “Asian” could mean Chinese or Korean food, but it could also mean most of Russia, or India, or Pakistan, Armenia, Bahrain… “Asia” is pretty big, your honor. People who use that blanket term always seem just a little racist to me.
But then, what is he referring to? Is he saying that the food is coming all the way from Asia on a boat? Is he taking a jab at Joe Biden over the shipping crisis? Is he talking about the logjam at California ports in the last few days?
How far does DoorDash even go these days?
It’s pretty obvious that Schroeder just says whatever comes into his head. And we’re finding out that what’s in his head is not looking good for justice in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.
#RittenhouseTrial [2] 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 [3]
— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) November 11, 2021 [4]
Twitter was disgusted:
Judge: “I hope the Asian food isn’t held up on one of those boats in Long Beach harbor.”
Yep, he said that. No jury in the room, just the lawyers but STILL WTF
— Karoli (@Karoli) November 11, 2021 [5]
“Let’s hope for 1 o’clock. I dunno..I hope the Asian food isn’t coming; it isn’t on one of those boats in Long Beach Harbor.”
-Judge Shroeder today before going into recess.Would he have said that if they were having sandwiches catered?
WTF?! pic.twitter.com/7EWV8sBLfL [6]
— Katie K! 💙 (@JustInCaseKate) November 11, 2021 [7]
Let’s add ‘Asian bigot’ to the scorecard for this judge.
— OneWildLife (@asweetgrace) November 11, 2021 [8]
This judge is a kooky control freak who loves to hear himself talk. His inane comments and interference are annoying. He just made a joke about how he 'hopes the Asian food isn't stuck in the harbor' – wtf?
This is a garbage trial. #KyleRittenhouseTrial [9] https://t.co/7vEbOUiqJS [10]— Rebel Eye (@EyesOfSurprise) November 11, 2021 [11]
My brain hurts with this whole trial. Did the judge just make a slight against Asian people??
— Katie S. Phang (@KatiePhang) November 11, 2021 [12]
The Rittenhouse Judge just made a snide comment that he hoped the Asian food ordered by the jury isn’t on one of those boats at Long Beach Harbor. I kid you not.
— Artemis (@ArrowofArtemis) November 11, 2021 [13]
Judge Schroeder just made a racist comment about Asians before going on lunch break saying he hopes the Asian food doesn’t come off a boat. Are you fucking kidding me? He’s racist and biased. He needs to be removed from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. #RittenhouseTrial [2] #racist [14] #judge [15] pic.twitter.com/wV8xNrHHFy [16]
— D. 🇵🇷 👑 ● (@TheTrueBoricua) November 11, 2021 [17]
And Eric Feigl-Ding, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, explains why this is racist:
Racist, me thinks, the judge, is. Murder trial judge for #KyleRittenhouse [18] says— ➡️ “I hope the Asian food isn’t coming on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor”. 🔥 What a complete joke and circus this #KyleRittenhouseTrial [9] now is. pic.twitter.com/2kXYN6wZ6s [19]
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2021 [20]
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 [21]
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 [22]
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2021 [23]
4) folks — JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T KNOW/THINK A TERM IS RACIST doesn’t mean it’s not racist. Example — the slur “moon face” is one of the most racist things against Asian people. Most haven’t heard of it. But it’s damn racist. Trump used it against @gtconway3d [24] last year. https://t.co/G1aq3kK2lV [25]
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 11, 2021 [26]