Government

Attorney Goes On Pro-Hitler, Antisemitic Social Media Screed, Immediately Loses Her Job

Some really reprehensible stuff here.

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Hate speech online – Speech bubbles on computer keyboardIf you’re in Biglaw and spend any time at all on social media, you’re probably familiar with biglawboiz. It’s become a go-to for content that hits a little different when you’ve been billing 90 hours a week, and your friends in publishing just can’t relate. The anonymous account is always good for some laughs, but in the wake of the horrific Hamas attacks on Israel, biglawboiz — a “a Jew with Israeli family” — has taken a more serious turn.

Yesterday, biglawboiz revealed some absolutely awful, hateful messages they received from attorney Sarah Chowdhury. We’re talking about some truly despicable stuff — “Vermin should have all been killed decades ago;” “All you zionists will pay;” “Hopefully someone sends you anthrax or poison and you die a slow terrible death.” And then capped it off with a pro-Hitler screed.

“I’d rather put you in a gas chamber bet you’d like that
With all your Zionist ancestors
Hitler should have eradicated all of you,”

Biglawboiz posted receipts on his Intsagram stories (the second slide was taken down by IG, but Above the Law tipsters got the screenshots).

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After the messages went viral, Chowdhury lost her job at the Illinois Comptroller’s office. A spokesperson told Reuters she was “immediately fired” after Chowdhury “admitted to at least some of the posts.” They noted Comptroller Susana Mendoza “has zero tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech.”

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Earlier this year, Chowdhury was named president of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago. Once Chowdhury’s hateful messages went viral, she was immediately removed from her position. They published the below statement on the controversy:

The South Asian Bar Association of Chicago stands against hate, bigotry and bias in any form. Today, our board was made aware of antisemitic comments made by SABA Chicago’s President toward the Jewish community through her personal social media account. Immediately upon learning of these statements, her role as president and membership in SABA-Chicago were terminated. We are deeply saddened and horrified by her words and their impact on our friends, families, and colleagues, and apologize for any harm they may have caused. Her words are not and will never be reflective of SABA Chicago. To be clear, SABA Chicago condemns such hateful rhetoric and is committed to supporting our communities and all those impacted by hate. We will not tolerate such behavior by any of our members.

As our nation responds to the rising hate violence we have seen at home, we endeavor to work together with other professional organizations to combat hate in all its forms—whether anti-Semitic, anti-Asian, anti-Muslim, white supremacy, or any other bigotry–and will always denounce such acts unequivocally and without qualification.

Our board, along with our newly installed President Maliha Siddiqui, remains committed to working with our partners in the legal community and beyond to ensure hate has no place in our profession or society. If you have any comments or concerns please reach out to info@sabachicago.org.

It’s a no-brainer for the comptroller and SABA to distance themselves from this truly vile and hateful content. But you really have to marvel at the bizarre confidence to send textbook hate messages to a content creator UNDER YOUR OWN NAME especially when you’re a professional with a lot to lose. Not to downplay the awful antisemitism at all, but Chowdhury also revealed an astonishing lack of discretion and demonstrated wildly poor judgment for an attorney.

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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