Disciplinary counsel resigns after filing alleges he is a 'proud anti-Muslim bigot'
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A disciplinary counsel in Tennessee has resigned after a legal filing alleged that his tweets showed him to be a “proud anti-Muslim bigot.”
Disciplinary counsel Jerry Morgan of the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility resigned after the state’s Administrative Office of the Courts investigated his social media posts, the Tennessean reports.
A suspended Nashville, Tennessee, lawyer, Brian Manookian, had argued in a motion that Morgan should be disqualified in his case because of Morgan’s “avowed anti-Muslim bigotry,” the Nashville Scene reports.
Manookian is married to a Muslim woman who is a well-known lawyer, and their children are being raised in a Muslim household.
Manookian’s motion to disqualify Morgan included screenshots of tweets in which Morgan praised President Donald Trump for “talking big against Muslims” and said Muslims fail to condemn Muslim terrorists. The screenshots are available in exhibits posted here:
“Muslims will take everything we give them and [use] it against us,” he allegedly tweeted. “Time to wake up!”
In another tweet, Morgan allegedly said: “Where’s the evidence that ‘Islam is a religion of peace’? They’ve gone to war against every society they’ve encountered for 1000s of years.”
Other alleged tweets by Morgan called Democrats a “clear and present danger,” said Democrats “hate problem solvers,” and referred to Hillary Clinton as “Crooked Hillary.”
The Twitter account and the tweets have been deleted.
Manookian was temporarily suspended in October 2019 after he was accused of sending intimidating emails to an opposing lawyer’s client and to a different opposing attorney, according to prior coverage by the Tennessean. Manookian had maintained that the emails were not threatening.
