Courtroom Chaos: Shouting Erupts as Former Judge Dragged Out of Court After Being Sentenced to Jail

Cincinnati, Ohio – Former Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter went limp and was dragged out of court by a bailiff after being sentenced to jail on Monday.

Chaos erupted in the courtroom and Hunter’s supporters began shouting as the former judge was forcibly taken out of the building.

Hunter was sentenced to 6 months in prison and one year of community service after she used her position as a judge to give her brother, who was also an employee of the juvenile court and about to be fired for allegedly striking a young offender, confidential records.

Tracie Hunter was actually convicted and found guilty in 2014 and was supposed to be sentenced in 2016, but several appeals have delayed her sentencing.

When Judge Dinkelacker announced on Monday that Hunter should be taken into custody, all hell broke loose.

One of Tracie Hunter’s supporters rushed to the defense table and was stopped and arrested.

Hunter’s supporter, who was wearing a black t-shirt that read “Justice for Judge Tracie M. Hunter,” was cuffed and removed from the court..

WATCH:

After sentencing, people start yelling, Hunter can be seen limp in an officer's arms..taken to jail. pic.twitter.com/QQLz5n5PvC

— Lauren Artino (@FOX19Lauren) July 22, 2019

Hunter’s supporters gathered outside of the Hamilton County courthouse and said what happened to Tracie Hunter is “racial injustice.”

So many people still outside the Hamilton Co. courthouse. Hunter supporters say what happened to Hunter is racial injustice. @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/9KO297l39r

— Lauren Artino (@FOX19Lauren) July 22, 2019

NBC News has more info on the background of Tracie Hunter’s years-long case:

The case stems from the former judge’s brother, Stephen Hunter, who worked as a youth corrections officer. Stephen Hunter allegedly struck a young offender on the job on July 7, 2013, leading to the officer’s boss to recommend his firing.

Tracie Hunter improperly demanded and received documents about the teen and passed them on to her brother, prosecutors said.

Tracie Hunter, who in 2010 became the first African American elected to Hamilton County’s Juvenile Court, has always insisted her prosecution was politically motivated.

“I violated no laws, I did not secure a public contract, I did not secure employment for my brother who worked for the court for about seven years before I was elected judge. They need to drop these unrighteous and I believe unlawful charges against me,” Hunter told NBC affiliate WLWT in Cincinnati on Sunday.