‘Outrageous’ that judge’s ringtone is ‘Proud to be an American,’ Temple professor says

The judge’s ringtone ‘further reveals Judge Schroeder’s potential for bias in this matter and related ones’

Temple University’s Center for Antiracism Research” director said a Wisconsin judge is biased because of the song used as his ringtone.

“This is outrageous,” Africology and African American Studies Professor Timothy Welbeck tweeted on November 10. “Aside from the obnoxious disruption it causes (I’ve seen judges threaten defendants and witnesses with jail time when their cell phones rang during court proceedings), it further reveals Judge Schroeder’s potential for bias in this matter and related ones.”

Welbeck is also an attorney with the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Welbeck’s tweet responded to a video of Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder’s phone going off during the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Rittenhouse is on trial for killing two people and wounding another during Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020. The 18-year-old Illinois resident said he acted in self-defense.

This is outrageous. Aside from the obnoxious disruption it causes (I’ve seen judges threaten defendants and witnesses with jail time when their cell phones rang during court proceedings), it further reveals Judge Schroeder’s potential for bias in this matter and related ones. https://t.co/R12bVhheC6

— Timothy N. Welbeck, Esq. (@timothywelbeck) November 10, 2021

The tweet responded to another tweet that referred to the patriotic “Proud to be an American” song as “the theme song from the Trump rallies.” The Lee Greenwood (above right) song is alternatively known as “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Greenwood first released the song in 1984 and has released new versions in the past 30 years. He performed the song for a Trump rally in 2018. The former president also played the song at many of his other rallies.