REPORT: UCLA equity officer hopes for Clarence Thomas' death
Clarence Thomas was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 18 with an infection after experiencing 'flu-like symptoms.'
'No one wants to openly admit [we all] hope Clarence Thomas dies,' Jonathan Perkins tweeted, going on to say, 'This whole rule we’re not to wish ill on people is silly.'
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Director for Race and Equity Johnathan Perkins ranted against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently, going as far as wishing for his death.
Clarence Thomas was hospitalized in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 18 with an infection after experiencing “flu-like symptoms.” The staff at Sibley Memorial Hospital treated him with intravenous antibiotics.
“No one wants to openly admit [we all] hope Clarence Thomas dies,” Perkins tweeted, going on to say, “This whole rule we’re not to wish ill on people is silly.”
Perkins went on to call the only black Supreme Court Justice a “sexist token” and referred to him as “Uncle Thomas,” a derogatory epithet historically used to disparage black people.
After receiving blowback on Twitter, the UCLA Race and Equity Director doubled down, posting “Clarence Thomas can choke as far as I’m concerned,” claiming that Thomas “deserves it for undoing generations of legal civil rights progress.”
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This diatribe against Clarence Thomas comes as his wife, Ginni Thomas, faces backlash after being accused of lobbying President Donald Trump’s chief of staff to take action in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Perkins called Ginni Thomas “treasonous” based on these accusations and attacked the Supreme Court Justice as he took part in the consideration of whether the Supreme Court would hear cases surrounding alleged election fraud and did not recuse himself from the process.
Following media reporting from outlets such as Fox News and Townhall covering the controversy. Perkins has since made his Twitter account private, limiting who can view his Tweets.
However, the replies to his Tweets are not private, and many of them expressed disagreement with the language Perkins used including one popular Twitter user who commented, “Uncle Thomas? GTFO you POS.”
Conversely, other replies expressed support for Perkins, including self-described tech entrepreneur Tim Maliyil, who tweeted “100% agree. We all would’ve be better off if Thomas died this week, and a Justice Jackson would’ve been able to take his place next month.”
100% agree. We all would’ve be better off if Thomas died this week, and a Justice Jackson would’ve been able to take his place next month.
— Tim Maliyil (@tim_maliyil) March 26, 2022
Maliyil was referring to Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee to replace Stephen Breyer, whose confirmation hearings began on March 21.
That tweet received just 19 likes, but also received 500 mostly angry replies, including several who reminded Maliyil of a previous tweet in which he wrote, “The problem with Trump supporters is that they don’t care about others. They don’t possess empathy nor do they know what that is.”
Clarence Thomas has since been discharged from the hospital after a week-long stay.
Perkins is a “public academic, higher education attorney, lecturer and podcast co-host of black&,” according to his website. “His activism and academic work are rooted in antiracist allyship and the effects of individual and institutional bias.”
Vice-Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at UCLA Anna Spain Bradley told Campus Reform “This tweet does not reflect my or UCLA EDI’s views.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Johnathan Perkins for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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