Irvine attorney says she is receiving threats over controversial Facebook post about Asians

An unrepentant Irvine attorney said Saturday she has received numerous threats because of her Facebook post joking about Asian stereotypes that fell flat and then went viral.

“I didn’t have any intent of anger and hatred,” said Christina Ignatius, who claims to be the top law school tutor in the United States. “If you have no malintent, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Meanwhile, Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, wrote a post on her own Facebook page taking Ignatius to task.

“I am saddened by your racist, insensitive and simply unacceptable post,” she wrote. “It’s hard to imagine that an attorney in Orange County would make such an ignorant post in 2018.”

Earlier this week, Ignatius on Facebook compared Orange County Asians to the cast of the hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians.”

“It reminds me of all of the Asians who flooded into Orange County and then took over our mall at South Coast Plaza,” she said in the post, widely disseminated by Asian-American news site nextshark.com. “They will drive in their Mercedes in the carpool lane and then cut across 5 lanes to get over to the mall, as if your car right next to them didn’t even matter. That’s why we have the term “`driving like an Asian.’”

Ignatius said the post has been removed and was meant as a joke for Facebook friends, adding that she was riffing on the “Things Asian Moms Say” memes popular on the internet and Youtube.

“They (Asians) poke fun at themselves,” she said. “I love them. I work with them. I love their culture. That’s why I love ‘The Things Asian Moms Say.’ “

Ignatius’ post also took aim at Asian students who enroll with her company Law School Tutors.

“They keep telling me they are attending UCRA,” the post says. “I need to translate that in my head to deduce they are going to UCLA.”

Ignatius said she meant no disrespect to her pupils. “It was just a funny comment,” she added. “It was merely a joke.”

However, many people have failed to find humor in the post.

As of Saturday there were more than 250 angry comments on Ignatius’ Facebook page. “South Coast Plaza is better without your racism,” one poster wrote.

In another Facebook post, Ignatius appeared to praise herself for the attention her original post received.

“Did you post something controversial as a joke and then you hit the news?” asks the post, which has also been removed.”Congratulations. You now have a phenomenal platform.”

Ignatius blames the controversy on hateful former classmates who reposted screenshots of the Asian post in an effort to ruin her reputation. “I’m kind of a silly girl, who is fun and easygoing,” she said. “My life is not news.”

Ignatius is the second Southern California attorney in the last two months to run afoul for an offensive Facebook post.

In July, the lead hard-core gang prosecutor in the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office was placed on paid leave after a series of offensive rants on social media triggered demands for his dismissal.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Selyem targeted outspoken U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, former first lady Michelle Obama, Mexican immigrants and the victim of a police shooting in Facebook and Instagram posts denounced by critics as “hateful rhetoric.”

Of Waters, Selyem said: “Being a loud-mouthed (expletive) in the ghetto you would think someone would have shot this bitch by now …” In an online argument with someone over the police shooting of a civilian, Selyem wrote, “That s—bag got exactly what he deserved. … You reap what you sow. And by the way go f— yourself you liberal s—bag.”

In her “open letter” to Ignatius on Facebook, Schroeder praised the diversity she sees in Rackauckas’ office and among elected officials in Orange County.

“I believe we need to continue to honor the strides made by the members of our diverse Bar in Orange County,” Schroeder wrote. “In fact, I am going to plan a celebration of diversity in the Orange County Bar to recognize the great strides made.

“Who’s with me in supporting such an event?” she asked.