A Chicago man landed himself in jail when he thought slapping a 79-year-old Black judge twice and yelling “Rosa Parks, move” would get her out of his way. David Nicosia, 55, has been accused of committing a hate crime against Judge Arnette Hubbard for attacking her July 14, while she smoked outside the Daley Center in Chicago.
Nicosia, a business owner, was allegedly upset that the judge was smoking near him, authorities said. The two began arguing and Nicosia, who is white, stepped to her, yelled “Rosa Parks, move,” and spit on her. As he walked away, Hubbard followed him and called for assistance.
That didn’t stop Nicosia, who spit on Hubbard and slapped her for a second time. Law enforcement stepped in, arrested Nicosia, and charged him with
four counts of aggravated battery and a hate crime. Judge James Brown ordered Nicosia held on $90,000 bail Tuesday.
Friends of the judge are shocked at the incident. Like Rosa Parks, Hubbard has a long-standing reputation in the African-American community as an advocate for civil rights and women’s rights, said Delores Robinson, past president of the Cook County Bar Association. Hubbard served as the first female president of the National Bar Association and Cook County Bar Association, both groups that serve primarily Black lawyers.
“People of good common sense and decency, people of good hearts should be outraged by this,” Robinson told the Chicago Tribune. “Not just because of who she is but that this happened to anybody.”
The incident is a sad reminder to us all that the fight for civil rights and simple respect is not over.