Tarrant judge suggests rap music might have influenced Black teen to commit crimes
A Tarrant County district judge suggested that rap music may have negatively influenced a young Black man accused of possessing a gun and being in a stolen car.
Judge Alex Kim, a Republican and head of a juvenile court, made the comments during a Zoom detention hearing on May 21. The clip made it on the Reddit subreddit called PublicFreakout, which has 3.3 million members.
“Mom, you and I are not surprised if your son is rapping and gets caught in a stolen car with a gun and goes on a car chase,” Kim said in the live stream. “We can kind of predict that’s going to happen.”
Kim told the youth’s mother that what happened to her son shouldn’t surprise her and suggested that someone who sings in a church choir wouldn’t get in trouble.
The mother, who was not identified, said her son is a good kid. He works, goes to school and takes care of his siblings. It’s unfair to label him as a meant-to-be criminal because of the music he likes, she said.
The judge ultimately released the young man from the detention center.
Some people on Reddit called Kim’s comments racist. When the Star-Telegram asked Kim for his response to those comments, he said “Stop Asian hate.”
Kim also said he never once mentioned race when it came to the teen. The teen and his mother could not immediately be reached for comment.
Pamela Young, an activist with United Fort Worth, said no matter what the teen did, it was wrong and racist for the judge to assume the teen was in trouble because he listens to and makes rap music.
“Our children deserve better than to be abused in front of their parents,” Young said.
Eric Morris, a precinct chair in the Tarrant County Republican Party, said Kim has been a target for political attacks but there is never any basis for it. Kim’s critics have nothing notable to use against him so they turn to personal attacks, he said.
“Anyone who knows him knows how serious he takes his role as a judge and his strong convictions for the rule of law,” Morris said.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 5:20 AM.
