Who is Sarah Chowdhury? Illinois Comptroller fires attorney over antisemitic Instagram messages

Sarah Chowdhury, an attorney with the Illinois Comptroller’s office, was fired on Thursday, October 19, 2023, after her antisemitic remarks on social media went viral. Comptroller Susana A. Mendoza's office "immediately fired" the lawyer after it was made aware of a screenshot of Chowdhury's vulgar exchange on Instagram that was making its rounds on X.

Trigger Warning: This article contains references to a hateful and graphic conversation. Reader discretion is advised.

While announcing their decision spokesperson Abdon Pallasch kept the employee's name hidden and added:

"Comptroller Mendoza has zero tolerance for anti-semitism or hate speech."

However, according to Reuters and social media posts, the employee fired was legal counsel Sarah Chowdhury, who made the unsavory remarks in private direct messages with Instagram user Big Law Boiz.

Sarah Chowdhury, an Indiana University School of Law, Indianapolis graduate, was associated with the Illinois State Comptroller's office for over three years. She was also the president of the South Asian Bar Associate (SABA) of Chicago.

Ironically, Chowdhury was previously honored by the ACLU of Illinois (American Civil Liberties Union) for her commitment to social justice.

---

When confronted about the messages, Sarah Chowdhury admitted to the hateful exchange

As per Reuter, Sarah Chowdhury initiated the exchange with Big Law Boiz by commenting on their post relating to the Israel-Palestian conflict. A quick search of the Big Law Boiz account showed they were "a Jew with Israeli family." They, however, refrained from giving out their real name.

Screenshots of Chowdhury's alleged conversation circulating online show her calling the person a "vermin" and a "f*cking Jew" who should have been "killed decades ago."

She goes on to tell the Jewish man that she wants to put him in a "gas chamber" with his "Zionist ancestors."

Screenshot of Sarah Chowdhury's conversation (Image via Twitter/@MrAndyNgo)

At one point she wrote:

"Hitler should have eradicated all of you."

As news of the conversation went viral, Chicago Tribune reached out to Sarah Chowdhury via a phone call, who told the newspaper she was "extremely sorry" about her "inappropriate and reprehensible" remarks and that she apologized to the user she had the exchange with.

She added that she extended her apology to anyone who read her conversation.

Sarah explained that her actions were a result of her frustrations with the ongoing conflict in Israel and the subsequent talks about the subject on news and social media.

"I don’t know what came over me. I was in a state of panic," she said.

Sarah Chowdhury reiterated that antisemitism has no place anywhere. She also remarked that she was stepping down as the president of SABA Chicago.

In their statement, however, the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago remarked that they terminated Chowdhury from her presidential post as soon as they learned of the exchange.

"We are deeply saddened and horrified by her words and their impact on our friends, families, and colleagues, and apologize for any harm they may have caused," they stated.

In its statement, the Illinois Office of Comptroller reiterated its previous stance that Israel had an "unequivocal" right to defend itself after the October 7 Hamas attack.