A municipal judge from New York has resigned and been permanently barred from the judicial office after posting an image to Facebook of a noose and a caption that read “Make America Great Again.”
Kyle Canning, a 29-year-old judge from Altona, New York posted the picture in February of 2018 that read, “If we want to make America great again we will have to make evil people fear punishment again,” in all capital letters for emphasis.
According to New York state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct, which launched an investigation into Canning’s behavior, the post was deemed open for public view. In May, the commission served the justice with a formal written complaint, charging him with communicating and political bias. A month later, Canning resigned, and on Tuesday, the commission released the results of its investigation with the following statement according to NBC News.
“The noose is an incendiary image with repugnant racial connotations. It is the very antithesis of law and justice,” Commission Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian said. “For a judge to use the image of the noose in making a political point undermines the integrity of the judiciary and public confidence in the courts.”
Canning had only held the position of town justice for a month before posting the image to Facebook, as his term was set to expire in 2021. Along with resigning, he agreed to never seek or accept judicial office in the future.
In a resignation letter written to the Altona town supervisor, Canning said he felt like he was “coerced into resigning.”
“It has been a pleasure serving this town as one of its justices, and I will greatly miss my duties,” he continued. “l do formally apologize for the inconvenience and hardship that I have imposed on my co-justice and the Town of Altona. “
Canning spoke to The New York Times and shared that he is a registered Democrat and not a supporter of President Donald Trump, who made “Make America Great Again” a campaign slogan. Canning said he thought his post was in support of the death penalty, the article stated.
“The post was not racist. I’m not a racist guy,” he said, “there is not a man that I could despise more than Donald Trump.”
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