Paragons of Virtue Arrested

Archive

As the officers tried to clear the chaotic scene and the Black teenagers lingered while looking for the lost key, the commission said, Justice Gall, who is white, told them to “get off the property — and that’s from Judge Gall.” She added, with a vulgarity included for emphasis: “I’m a judge.”

Minutes later, she cited her judicial status again.

“You’re going to get in an Uber, buddy, or you’re going to get a cop escort home,” she said, adding: “That’s how I roll. That how Mrs. G rolls. That’s how Judge Gall rolls.” Over roughly an hour and a half, she invoked her office more than a dozen times, the commission said.

An officer suggested to her that if someone found the missing key, it should be returned to the police. Otherwise, the officer said, someone from the group that lost it would need to return to look for it further.

“If they come back looking for it, I’ll call you while they’re on the property,” Justice Gall said, adding: “If they did, they’ll be arrested, or they’ll be shot on the property. Because when they trespass, you can shoot them on the property. I’ll shoot them on the property.”

In another exchange, she said to the officers that the Black teenagers “don’t look like they’re that smart” and “were not going to business school, that’s for sure.”