Collin County District Judge Angela Tucker is facing a wave of racist, sexist, and threatening online abuse after reducing the bond for 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony.
The Black teenager is accused of fatally stabbing another student, Austin Metcalf, during a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas.
Tucker’s decision to lower Anthony’s bond from $1 million to $250,000 sparked outrage from conservative voices online, many of whom flooded social media platforms with racist memes, death threats, and vile hate speech targeting the veteran judge.
ShineMyCrown.com has chosen not to publish the hateful messages or memes shared in response to the case, as doing so would amplify and promote dangerous hate speech.
The backlash intensified after it was revealed that Anthony may claim self-defense in the fatal stabbing of Metcalf, a white student.
Reports indicate that the two teenagers were involved in a verbal altercation at the meet, during which Anthony allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Metcalf in the chest. Metcalf died shortly after, in the arms of his twin brother.
Anthony reportedly asked officers whether his actions could be considered self-defense, which has become a central element in the ongoing legal proceedings.
Despite the fact that bond decisions are guided by Texas state law—which requires judges to consider factors such as criminal history, flight risk, and community safety—online commentators quickly painted Tucker’s ruling as biased.
Many accused the judge, who is Black, of racial favoritism, using inflammatory comparisons to controversial cases like those of Kyle Rittenhouse and George Zimmerman, where white defendants were acquitted after claiming self-defense.
Some online figures claimed Judge Tucker was “protecting her own,” while others openly questioned whether race played a role in the bond reduction—a suggestion legal experts have widely condemned as unfounded and politically charged.
Civil rights advocates have spoken out in support of Judge Tucker, noting that bond reductions are not an admission of guilt or innocence but part of the judicial process meant to ensure fairness under the law. Legal professionals also stressed that Tucker has served on the bench since 2012 with a reputation for integrity and impartiality.
“These kinds of attacks on a sitting judge—especially with racist and misogynistic language—undermine the rule of law and endanger the judiciary,” said one former prosecutor, who condemned the harassment as “intolerable.”
In the meantime, community leaders and media watchdogs are calling for accountability on social media platforms that allow targeted hate campaigns against public officials to go unchecked.
Meanwhile, the FBI has launched an investigation into the death threats and vile comments targeting Judge Tucker. Per TMZ Sports, authorities said that Judge Angela Tucker has also been assigned extra security.
