Patrons of Louisiana’s popular local eatery Sammy’s Grill will not be seeing State District Judge Mike Erwin eating there anymore. He’s been banned from eating there after he allegedly spewed some nasty racism at a patron.
Erwin, a Baton Rouge judge, was involved in an argument that prompted a disturbance call Friday night at the Highland Road restaurant to which deputies — including one already at the restaurant while working extra duty — responded, said Casey Rayborn Hicks, the sheriff's spokeswoman.
Hicks said one patron alleged Erwin directed a racial slur toward her during a disagreement.
The woman, Kaneitra Johnson, wrote in a widely shared Facebook post the next day that the judge at least twice called her "n****r" during an argument over a seat at the bar.
The Rouge Collection’s report is a little more detailed, based on a phone interview with Kaneitra Johnson. According to Johnson she was waiting at the bar for her dinner seating to become available. She was sharing a stool with a man that she and her friends had befriended at the bar.
Johnson says she and the driver share the seat until he leaves. “I’m halfway on the seat and the Lyft driver is on the other half of the seat. Then he asked for his jacket. All of a sudden I hear this older man behind me tell the Lyft driver, ‘You never give up your seat for a n*gger.'”
Johnson later learned that the man hurling the racial slur was Judge Mike Erwin.
As Johnson and the driver sat side by side, the older man continues, “You should have made her get her fat n*gger a** up.”
According to The Root, Sammy’s Grill’s manager Andy McKay had this to say.
“I wasn’t there that night, so I can’t comment on the details, but I know police were called,” McKay told The Root. “I can also tell you that the owner Sammy Nagem has made it clear that Judge Erwin is no longer welcome here.
“We will refuse his business,” McKay added.
Judge Mike Erwin has been a big part of the New Orleans legal system for decades now and an evaluation of his cases and the sentences he has given out over the years should be conducted if these allegations turn out to be true.