Hours after neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin was ordered to pay $14 million to a Jewish woman he harassed, he was back on Gab sharing racist articles from the Daily Stormer.
A federal judge Thursday ordered him to pay the penalty — $4 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages — as part of a lawsuit claiming he instigated a racist troll storm against Tanya Gersh, a Montana realtor.
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But Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer, appears unfazed by the news, and has continued to share articles containing anti-Semitic language and racist slurs.
For years, authorities have tried and failed to track him down and serve him with the lawsuit brought on behalf of Gersh. Anglin has claimed he’s outside the U.S. and can’t return over fears for his personal safety.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen approved the recommended penalties issued by a federal magistrate last month.
Gersh, a realtor in the Rocky Mountain resort town of Whitefish, Montana, described in the lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, how Anglin made her life a living hell, starting from December 2016.
READ: Where’s the Nazi? Judge orders Andrew Anglin to come out of hiding.
“Are y’all ready for an old fashioned Troll Storm?” Anglin wrote. “Because AYO – it’s that time, fam.”
From then, Gersh, her husband and 12-year-old son were terrorized by relentless threatening phone calls, emails, texts, and social media posts — many containing violent, anti-Semitic language, references to the holocaust, and death threats.
One message contained audio of gunshots. In a four month period alone, until the lawsuit was filed, Gersh and her family had received 700 harassing messages in total.
The impact on Gersh’s mental health and physical well being was grave. She started having panic attacks that left her breathless and caused her to throw up, according to the lawsuit. A psychologist testified during the trial that Gersh had been diagnosed with PTSD as a result of the harassment campaign. Other symptoms include weight gain, hair loss, and joint pain.
Gersh came onto Anglin’s radar following a dispute involving Sherry Spencer, mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer, who also lives in Whitefish. Richard Spencer became a national figure during the 2016 presidential campaign, and his mother started to field criticism from residents about her son’s views, which even materialized into protests outside a commercial building that she owned.
Gersh suggested that Spencer sell the building, put out a statement disavowing her son’s views and make a donation. Gersh claims that Spencer was first open to her suggestion and wanted to retain her as the real estate agent.
Then, Spencer went quiet, and weeks later, published a post on Medium accusing Gersh of attempting to “threaten and extort her into agreeing to sell her building.” The post, which has since been deleted, kicked off a fire-storm in the far-right, and Anglin saw opportunity to mobilize his troll army.
Anglin is already in the red. In June, a federal judge told him to pay $4.1 million to Muslim radio host Dean Obeidallah, whom Anglin had falsely accused of terrorism.
Cover: In this July 11, 2019 file photo, Tanya Gersh, a Montana real estate agent, embraces her father Lloyd Rosenstein following a hearing at the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse in Missoula. (Ben Allen/The Missoulian via AP, File)