Connecticut attorney Norm Pattis sparked outrage with his comments about protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by police in Minneapolis.

In the midst of nationwide protests, a war of words over social justice and white privilege erupted over Pattis' blog post, which caught the attention of attorneys, including Aigne Goldsby, the outgoing president of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association.

"Call me privileged, and the first thought that comes to mind is: What do you want?" Pattis wrote. "What tax shall I pay in the name of your view of distributive justice? I suffer from White Male Fatigue Syndrome."

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Click here to read the full blog post

Pattis is a controversial figure.

Until recently, he represented right-wing InfoWars radio host Alex Jones, who called the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting a government hoax, before retreating from that statement amid litigation from victims' families. Pattis withdrew from that case in May, declining  to comment on the matter.

The New Haven attorney also has represented high-profile clients, such as Fotis Dulos, who was accused of killing his wife. That case drew national attention until Dulos killed himself in late January.

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'Self-indulgent'

"I watch this week's looting and rioting, and wonder what's become of the America I was taught to regard as home," Pattis wrote on his blog. "Yes, a man was killed by the police; it appears senseless. It may well be based on race. But burning property, beating strangers, strutting the streets chanting, 'no justice, no peace,' seems less a plea for social justice than it does a self-indulgent form of special pleading."

His post drew a response from Goldsby, a trial attorney and diversity director of the Connecticut Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section.

Goldsby said Thursday she objected not only to his blog, but his comments to her, which she called "disrespectful."

"He essentially threatened me and my friend, and was nasty in the language he used," she said. "He blocked me, and sent me a private message saying that I am 'race pandering,' told me to 'pick up my bed and walk,' and told me I had black entitlement."

In one exchange, Goldsby accused Pattis of making threats.

"Black entitlement doesn't work for me," Pattis wrote. "Good riddance."

Goldsby wrote back, "I don't take threats lightly. You may want to relax."

Goldsby is the founder of Black Esquire LLC, a membership-based organization aimed at helping minority lawyers and others achieve success in the legal profession.

"A lawyer who boasts of founding something called Black Esquire just offered to help me get over my white privilege," Pattis wrote in the conversation, which the other attorney captured via screenshot. "Seriously? #RacePandering."

Norman Pattis screenshot

Pattis was unapologetic.

"When I hear male white privilege I lose interest," he said Thursday. "It's a form of race pandering."

Meanwhile, he explained on his blog: "There are no slaves in my past, and our struggles felt far from privileged. I'm just not buying the identitarian project. … Don't tell me who you are, show me what you can do. We've become a nation of poseurs."

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Read more: Scenes of Unrest: A Close-Up View of the Protests in New York, Baltimore and Atlanta

"More than a thousand people are killed each year by the police. Most are white. Most suffer from mental illness," he wrote. "But I am not viewing the death that spawned this week's events as a sign of an epidemic of racial violence. What I know of the country's history tells me that we are doing better than ever on race. There are no slaves. Jim Crow is dead."

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'Nonsense'

Goldsby, who said she's since been blocked from Pattis' LinkedIn page, wrote to him saying, "This is the most white privilege nonsense I have ever read. If you want to understand why this is wrong and actually help eliminate racial injustice instead of being a part of the problem, feel free to reach out."

Goldsby said Pattis' response "was totally disrespectful and bullying."

Pattis responded: "I suspect I would run circles around you in my sleep. Be an entitled race panderer. Pick up your bed and walk. Founder of Black Esquire? Show us what you can do not what you are. Good riddance to you."

Goldsby disagreed.

"The race pandering hash tag was disrespectful and inauthentic," she said. "If anyone is race pandering, it's him."

Goldsby said she decided to speak out because Pattis "is holding himself out as an advocate for justice and the voice for freedom and he can't have these ideologies because they can't co-exist with each other."

Goldsby continued: "He is not acknowledging his white privilege and not using his privilege in the right way. He was also outright rude in his conversation with me."

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