New York Judge Robert J. Putorti may soon lose his title after bragging about an incident that took place in late 2015 or 2016. According to News One, the state’s judicial conduct commission is seeking to have Putorti’s position terminated.

It seems Putorti’s past is catching up with him. While presiding over a case several years ago at the Whitehall Town Court in Washington County, the judge reportedly pulled a semi-automatic handgun on a Black defendant. The evidence comes from Putorti’s own admission. The judge seemingly boasted to colleagues about the unethical incident for years.

Putorti once referenced the shocking moment was during a judge’s conference in 2018. Reports say during the original incident, the defendant was in court to take a plea deal for using a knife to attack his wife and another male. Although Putorti seemed to have mercy on the defendant at the time by reducing the man’s fine, in a later court appearance, the judge pulled out the firearm.

Putorti claimed he feared for his life after the defendant allegedly came closer to the judge’s bench than allowed. He described the defendant as a “6-foot, 9-inch large Black man who was built like a football player,” according to the outlet. The state’s judicial conduct commission denied those claims, adding the defendant was shorter than what Putorti described.

In an 11-1 vote, members of the commission ruled that Putorti showed racial bias without remorse. They requested that the judge be stripped of his title. “A courtroom is no place for a judge to brandish or point a gun at a litigant,” one commission member argued.

Administrator Robert H. Tembeckjian, who also serves on the commission, added, “But for the fact that it happened in this case, it would otherwise be unfathomable for a judge to brandish a weapon in court, without provocation or justification.” Tembeckjian continued, “To then brag about it repeatedly with irrelevant racial remarks is utterly indefensible and inimical to the role of a judge.”