A Las Vegas police organization wants a judge to step down over comments about officers, according to reports.
The Las Vegas Police Protective Association (LVPPA) is calling for Clark County Judge Erika Ballou to give up her post after speaking to a defendant in court this week, the New York Post reported Thursday.
“You’re the one making the decisions not to walk away from cops,” Ballou said to the defendant. “You’re a black man in America. You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are.”
“You know you don’t want to be nowhere where cops are cause I know I don’t, and I’m a middle-aged, middle-class black woman,” the judge continued, adding, “I don’t want to be around where the cops are because I don’t know I’m going to walk away alive or not.”
In a social media post on Wednesday, the LVPPA shared video footage of the exchange, saying it took “exception” to Ballou’s “disparaging” comments:
“We also ask the Judicial Ethics Commission to sanction her for violating the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct,” the organization continued, also stating, “YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO THE BENCH.”
The defendant was reportedly accused of battery against an officer while on probation.
“Even if the cop like came after and was harassing your group, you should have walked away instead of staying,” Ballou added. “You needed to walk away because you knew you were on probation.”
The man was reportedly found in violation of his probation.
Prior to her election, Judge Ballou worked as a public defender for over 15 years, according to the Clark County Courts website.
In September 2016, Ballou was asked to remove a Black Lives Matter pin or leave a courtroom:
“I believe a courtroom is the proper place to make issues about criminal justice. This is not political speech, it’s not supporting a particular candidate,” she claimed.
In May, the radical group Black Lives Matter fumed over the “white supremacist” institution of “policing” once President Joe Biden signed an executive order on policing reforms, Breitbart News reported at the time.
“Maintaining a white supremacist institution like policing costs Black lives,” the group wrote online:
“This continued commitment by politicians to support our killers makes them accessories to our demise,” it continued.