Meme Historian Weighs In: Why Judge John McConnell Immigration Ruling Is Trending After That One Guy’s "I Plead the 5th" Dance
In a twist that has TikTok historians cackling, the "Judge John McConnell immigration ruling" is suddenly the internet’s favorite courtroom drama meme—not for the legal implications, but because an exhausted defendant tried to invoke the Fifth Amendment by doing the viral "Jerry Springer shuffle" while screaming "I don't negotiate with ICE." The irony? Judge McConnell's actual ruling (which blocked a Trump-era immigration policy) happened weeks ago, but the internet has now retroactively assigned it as the "official theme song" for every chaotic Zoom immigration hearing where someone accidentally unmutes to burp. The real funny part: McConnell is reportedly a federal judge in Rhode Island, causing thousands of users to incorrectly photoshop his head onto Judge Judy’s body.