A county judge in Georgia and two sheriff’s deputies are accused of using the n-word in court, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Allen Duray Green, an African American, was waiting in the Fannin County Courthouse on March 16 to testify at a bond hearing for his friend Robert Vivian, who is white.
When Judge Roger Bradley reviewed the witness list, he asked about Green’s identity. The two sheriff’s deputies responded, “N—ger Ray,” witnesses in the courtroom told Fox 5.
The judge went a step further and told a story about an African-American bootlegger in the county who used the nickname “N—ger Bob.”
McCaysville Police Officer Michael Early was in the courtroom. “I overheard the n-word followed by ‘Ray,’” he told a Fox 5 reporter. Early also confirmed, in a written statement, that more than one person used the n-word in court that morning.
The judge’s defenders said the context is misunderstood. Bradley and the deputies were referring to Green’s street name, they explained to Fox 5. But Green said he doesn’t have a street name, and no one had ever called him “N—ger Ray” before this incident.
“It hurts. It still hurts right now,” Green said in an interview. “It’s a subject that my grandfather, my great-grandfather, had to deal with. Not me.”
Bradley has not commented on the incident. And the county clerk said that transcripts and audio from the hearing are not available.
In the meantime, the state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission is launching an investigation.
Read more at Fox 5 Atlanta.