Man Lunges at Judge

January 3rd was just a regular Wednesday for Judge Mary Kay Holthus when she was sentencing a 30 year old man, Deobra Redden, on an attempted battery charge. She was not expecting to go home with a head injury and hand abrasions instead. These injuries were the result of a sudden attack by Deobra Redden. In the scene caught on camera, Redden pounced on the Judge and started viciously attacking her. Officials described the situation as Redden “suppermanning” over the judge’s bench. The law clerk, Michael Lasso, and several court officers intercepted and after a bit of struggling, got Redden off of Judge Holthus. The altercation was messy and even caused an American flag to topple over them. The brawl left one courtroom marshal with a bleeding gash and a dislocated shoulder which needed hospital treatment. 

A freshman, Nibin Varghese, believes “it was not right for the man to attack such a frail judge in the way he did. With just that action alone, he will rack up more years in prison, so I see no point in trying to attack the judge at all.” Despite being the most notable, this wasn’t Redden’s only moment of violence. His criminal record includes three felonies and nine misdemeanors. Ironically, Redden had told the judge that he is “a person who never stops trying to do the right thing no matter how hard it is” only moments before. Judge Holthus did not let the attack stop her from convicting Deobra as his court was rescheduled for the following Tuesday. Extortion, coercion with force, and battery on a protected person were the charges he added to his ever growing criminal record. 

Another freshman student, Rameesha Ahmad, stated “Although the man who lunged at the Judge was a tragic incident, this shows how further security measures need to be taken in court. This has blown up all over social media, with thousands of videos on platforms such as TikTok portraying the video in a humorous light.” This student brings up a good point, since no matter how funny social media posts seem, this outburst from a convict says a lot about the state of the U.S. justice system and the reforms needed.