Texas judge who said black suspect deserves a ‘tree and a rope’ must now undergo racial sensitivity training

According to reports, a Texas judge is in a heap of trouble after he commented on a Facebook post and said that a black suspect who’s accused of shooting a cop to death deserves a “tree and a rope.” Judge James Oakley was reprimanded and will now have to undergo “racial sensitivity training.”

The Grio reports that Oakley will have to complete 30 hours of a training course for new judges and four hours of “racial sensitivity training.” A screenshot posted by The Grio shows Oakley’s comment on a Facebook post by the San Antonio Police Department announcing the arrest of Otis Tyrone McKane for the murder of Detective Benjamin Marconi. “Time for a tree and a rope…” Oakley commented.

The comment was immediately met with revulsion. One commenter said, “VERY inappropriate remark. I am as angry as anyone but for you to use FB to flaunt your opinion as an elected official in such a foul manner is disgusting.”

From The Grio:

He says that his comments were meant to show his personal feelings and that the killing should “qualify for the death penalty.” According to him, it had nothing to do with race even though he is white and the suspect is black.

The commission says it has gotten 18 written complaints about Oakley’s statements, with some of them mentioning the racist overtones of his comments. In the end, they concluded that Oakley’s remarks “cast reasonable doubt on his capacity to act impartially.”

Oakley deleted the comment soon after.

Featured image via Facebook/San Antonio Police Department

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.