(CHICAGO,Illinois)In response to antisemitic statements connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict, Sarah Chowdhury, an attorney working for the Illinois Comptroller's Office, was terminated from her position. The offensive remarks came to light through the Instagram account 'Big Law Boiz,' prompting the swift decision to dismiss Chowdhury, which took place within just 90 minutes of the office becoming aware of the comments.
Chowdhury's comments on Instagram aimed at a Jewish person included "F***ing Jew," "I'd rather put you in a gas chamber bet you'd like that," "With all of our Zionist ancestors," "Hitler should have eradicated all of you," "ZIONIST PIG," "all Zionists will pay" and "Hopefully someone sends you anthrax or poison and you die a slow terrible death."
People on social media criticized her comments widely, and she later apologized after the controversy was made public.
In response to the public exposure of her posts, Sarah Chowdhury, an attorney in the Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza's office, acknowledged her involvement in some of the comments and was promptly terminated within 90 minutes of the posts becoming public.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune regarding her controversial remarks, Chowdhury expressed profound regret, describing her statements as 'inappropriate and reprehensible.' She apologized to the individual with whom she had the exchange and anyone who came across her comments.
Chowdhury attributed her actions to her distress over the Israel-Hamas conflict and the way it was portrayed in the media and discussed on social media platforms. She emphasized that antisemitism has no place in any context, saying, 'I don't know what came over me. I was in a state of panic. Antisemitism has no place anywhere.'
Following the public revelation of her comments, the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago removed Chowdhury from her position as President.
They stated on Facebook, saying, '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 we apologize for any harm they may have caused.
Her words are 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 legal community partners to ensure hate has no place in our profession or society. If you have any comments or concerns, please contact info@sabachicago.org.