Kyle Rittenhouse case: Judge makes offensive anti-Asian joke during homicide trial

Judge Bruce Schroeder made an offensive joke about Asian food during the Kyle Rittenhouse trial for homicide.

Schroeder had said, ''I hope the Asian food isn't coming... isn't on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor.''

His strange remark was deemed inappropriate and faced backlash for beinganti-Asian.

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John Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC said, ''It harms our community and puts us in the crosshairs of micro-aggressions as well as actual physical violence.''

After facing backlash, Schroeder defended himself, saying he was ''referring to the supply chain backlogs caused by congestion problems in California ports.''

Earlier, he hadsent the jury out of the courtroom after prosecutor Thomas Binger began questioning KyleRittenhouse's decision to remain silent aftershooting last year.

Over 9,000 anti-Asian incidents reported in the US since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite months of political and social action, the number of anti-Asian incidents documented in the United States so far this year is poised to surpass last year, as per a report by Stop AAPI Hate, a nationwide coalition that became the authority on gathering statistics on racially motivated assaults.

Kyle Rittenhouse is an American teenager who is charged with killing two people during racial justice protests last year.

In dramatic and risky testimony in his own defence, Rittenhouse tried to portray himself as wanting to help others during the protests last year in the city of Kenosha and opened fire only in self-defense after being attacked and ambushed.

Prosecutors have described Rittenhouse as a vigilante who killed two protesters. But he struggled in front of a jury to explain why he carried an AR-15-style assault rifle to the protests.

The case has drawn national attention because it arose from the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations last year.

The protests and rioting in Kenosha erupted when a white policeman shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, several times in his car during an arrest, leaving him paralysed.

In right-wing and pro-gun circles, including former president Donald Trump and his followers, Rittenhouse is a painted as a hero figure.

The case is the most high-profile civilian USself-defence trial since George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Florida in 2013.

(With inputs from agencies)