Judge faces backlash for hugging killer cop Amber Guyger and giving her a copy of the Bible following murder conviction
A judge was criticized after she presided over the trial of Dallas cop Amber Guyger and hugged her after sentencing her to prison for fatally shooting her African American neighbor.
In an unusual turn of events, Dallas County Judge Tammy Kemp walked over to the bench and handed Guyger a Bible following the sentencing on Thursday, the New York Post reports. “You can have mine. I have three or four at home,” the judge told the 31-year-old disgraced police officer, per news station WFAA.
A jury sentenced Guyger to 10 years in jail for ending the life of Bothan Jean, 26, who she allegedly mistook for an intruder when she entered his apartment thinking it was her own. The fired cop was consoled by Kemp after she read the Bible passage John 3:16, saying, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“You just need a tiny mustard seed of faith. You start with this,” the judge told Guyger, according to the report.
Before being escorted out of the courtroom, Guyger hugged Kemp in a long embrace. “You haven’t done so much that you can’t be forgiven,” the judge told her. “You did something bad in one moment in time. What you do now matters.”
However, Kemp received backlash on Twitter for the kind act in the courtroom. “A judge must be impartial. Tammy Kemp has undermined her credibility,” tweeted SiriusXM host Joe Madison.
“Guyger got on that stand, lied about thinking she was at home, pretended to cry, and y’all are pushing the ‘hug it out and forgive’ narrative? Nope,” another tweet read.
The heartwarming moment between the convicted felon and the judge came after Brandt, the victim's brother, himself embraced Guyger in court. “I don’t know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please?” Brandt asked the jurist, before going over to his sibling's killer.