The publisher of an infamous neo-Nazi website has been ordered by a federal judge to pay $14 million (£11.6 million) in damages to a Jewish woman targeted by a sustained harassment campaign launched by his site.
Andrew Anglin, who runs the white supremacist Daily Stormer, was ordered by a judge on Thursday to pay the damages to Tanya Gersh, a resident of Whitefish, Montana.
The Jewish woman came to Anglin’s attention in late 2016 after questioning a fellow resident of the town, the mother of Richard Spencer, a Neo-Nazi and white supremacist, about whether she endorsed her son’s views.
Anglin subsequently published more than 30 articles about Ms Gersh on his website, urging his thousands of followers to launch a “troll storm” against her.
She, her husband and her son, who was 12 at the time, have received hundreds of antisemitic threats and messages since, a harassment campaign has left her with regular panic attacks, trauma and severe anxiety.
Anglin also promoted a planned march through the town of Whitefish in early 2017 to end outside the Gersh home, and promoted it using a picture superimposing the images of Ms Gersh, her son and two other Jewish Whitefish residents at the entrance to Auschwitz. The march never took place.
Thursday's ruling follows a legal battle that began in April 2017 when the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a federal lawsuit.
Ms Gersh described it as “a win for everyone who has been harassed, terrorised and bullied.
“With the strong support of my family, the Whitefish community, the people of Montana and the Jewish community around the world, I had the strength to stand up and fight against Andrew Anglin and I defeated him and his hatred.
“Even though I don’t like to admit that what he did broke a part of me, I am now a stronger person for it. Don’t be afraid to take a stand against hatred and don’t let hateful people define who you are. We will not let them win.”
Anglin did not appear in court despite being ordered to by a judge, forfeiting his legal right to defend his actions.
He has maintained a high level of secrecy concerning his whereabouts and it is unclear whether he currently resides in the United States.
Nonetheless, David Dinielli, deputy legal director of the SPLC, said the organisation would go “to the ends of the earth to collect the judgment on behalf of our client…whether it’s cash, assets or intellectual property.”
