Andrew Anglin | |
|---|---|
 Anglin in 2013 | |
| Born | (1984-07-27)July 27, 1984 (age 41) Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Editor ofThe Daily Stormer |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Known for | The Daily Stormer |
| Movement | |
Andrew Barret Anglin (born July 27, 1984)[1] is an Americanneo-Nazi andconspiracy theorist, and the editor of the websiteThe Daily Stormer.[2] Through his website, Anglin combinesNazi ideology withinternet memes originating primarily from4chan to promotewhite supremacy,fascism, andantisemitic conspiracy theories, such asHolocaust denial, to a young audience.[3]
Anglin was born in 1984, and grew up inWorthington, Ohio, a suburb ofColumbus.[4][5][2] According to both Anglin and his childhood classmates, he wasliberal as a youth.[6][2] He attended theLinworth Alternative Program and theWorthington Kilbourne High School from 1999 to 2003. He was remembered by classmates as aJNCOs-wearing,dreadlocked,atheistvegan who often wore a hoodie with a "fuck racism" patch.[7][2] His friends in high school reported that his behavior changed during his sophomore year at Linworth, when he exhibitedself-harming behavior and began promoting conspiracy theories.[2] After high school, Anglin took classes atColumbus State Community College in 2003, and studied English atOhio State University for one quarter in 2004.[2][7]
In 2006, Anglin launched aconspiracy theory website,Outlaw Journalism, which he claims was modeled after the works ofAlex Jones andHunter S. Thompson, whom Anglin admired.[2]
According to Anglin, he left the United States in 2007 and moved toAsia, which he described as an "awesome" experience, and where he developed "affinity for theAsian races".[8] In 2008, after posting onOutlaw Journalism that the only way for humanity to survive was to return to ahunter-gatherer lifestyle, Anglin began traveling aroundSoutheast Asia, eventually ending up inDavao City. In 2011, he spent several weeks with aTboli village in southernMindanao, where he initially intended to stay permanently, selling some of his possessions to raise money for a dowry to marry two localMuslim women.[2] In 2012, Anglin wrote that he found the locals to be "a civilized, non-aggressive and industrious people", but he eventually came to consider them too "primitive". He became lonely and only wanted to associate with members of his ownrace, and said: "By the Grace of God, I foundAdolf Hitler."[7]
In 2012, Anglin launched another website,Adventure Quest 2012, which discussed conspiracy theories such as the existence ofreptilian humanoids. He described the aim of the site as seeking to "mend the wounds produced by modern society ... and [help] the reader transcend these physical bonds and reach total ascendancy. To mend these wounds, the world must learn to embrace diversity and color".[7] Later in 2012, he launched his first neo-Nazi website,Total Fascism.[6] Feeling thatTotal Fascism was not appealing to a younger demographic and had articles that were too long, Anglin launchedThe Daily Stormer on July 4, 2013, with shorter articles and a more provocative style.[6]
In April 2017, theSouthern Poverty Law Center filed afederal lawsuit on behalf of Tanya Gersh, accusing Anglin of instigating an anti-Semitic harassment campaign against Gersh, a real estate agent fromWhitefish, Montana.[9][10] In July 2019, a judge issued a $14 milliondefault judgment against Anglin, who has refused to appear in court.[11][12][13] On November 9, 2022, a warrant was issued for Anglin's arrest for ignoring the judgment against him.[14]
In August 2017, radio presenterDean Obeidallah suedThe Daily Stormer in an Ohio federal court. Anglin had published fake images which purported to show Obeidallah, who is Muslim, celebrating the 2017Manchester Arena bombing. The lawsuits cleared a longstanding hurdle in March 2018, when U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch declared that there was sufficient evidence of Anglin being domiciled in Ohio despite living abroad.[15] In July, the court found in Obeidallah's favor, with neither Anglin nor his representatives present in court.[16]
In October 2017, Anglin was named as a defendant in a case brought by nineCharlottesville residents following theUnite the Right rally in August 2017. Anglin was named alongside Robert "Azzmador" Ray as responsible forThe Daily Stormer website, as well as Moonbase Holdings.[17] Adefault judgement was entered against Anglin who did not participate in the trial.[18]
In May 2018,Taylor Dumpson, the first black student body president atAmerican University, sued Anglin for organizing a racist andsexist trolling campaign against her.[19] She alleges that Anglin had posted her name and picture, as well as links to herFacebook page and theTwitter account of the university's student government, and urged his readers to "troll storm" her, which resulted in many hate-filled and racist online messages directed at her. Although Dumpson and Anglin have not reached a settlement, she settled in December 2018 with one of the people who harassed her, a man fromEugene, Oregon named Evan McCarty who was a neo-Nazi musician and former theatre actor known as "Byron de la Vandal" (named afterByron De La Beckwith, the assassin ofMedgar Evers) who served as a member of the fascistVanguard America and affiliated with the Daily Stormer. McCarty was required to apologize, to renounce white supremacy, to stop trolling anddoxing online, and to provide information to and cooperate with authorities in the prosecution ofwhite supremacists.[20] The lawsuit that was brought on her behalf was led by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law which continues to use litigation as a tool to fight extremism and to slow the efforts[21] of white supremacists.[22]
On August 9, 2019, a Federal judge awarded Dumpson a judgment of over $725,000, to be paid by Andrew Anglin, Brian Andrew Ade, and the shell company which ownsThe Daily Stormer. The defendants did not show up to contest the lawsuit, so a default judgment was entered against them, consisting of $101,429.28 in compensatory damages, punitive damages of $500,000 and attorney's fees and costs of $124,022.10. A restraining order was also handed down, as was an injunction not to publish anything more about Dumpson. The judgement came only a day after Tanya Gersh was awarded a $14 million default judgment against Anglin.[23][24]
Anglin has stated: "The goal is toethnically cleanse White nations ofnon-Whites and establish anauthoritarian government. Many people also believe that the Jews should be exterminated".[25] Anglin also usesThe Daily Stormer as a platform to promotemisogynistic conspiracy theories, claiming that politically active "white women across the Western world" are pushing for liberal immigration policies "to ensure an endless supply of Black and Arab men to satisfy their depraved sexual desires".[26] In July 2018, he summarized his misogynistic views, writing: "Look, I hate women. I think they deserve to be beaten,raped and locked in cages."[27] Anglin has also advocated in theDaily Stormer for the 'legalisation of rape' in America.[28][29] Anglin is also a Holocaust denier.[30] Although he has espoused neo-Nazi views, he has attempted to rebrand his ideology as "American Nationalism".[30] Anglin stated he agreed with the central tenets of Nazism in 2014, but had reservations over the revival of all aspects of Hitler's regime.[6] A self-proclaimed "troll", Anglin stated that he had been introduced to Nazism on the online imageboard 4chan.[31]
Anglin was banned from Twitter/X in 2013, but was reinstated weeks after thesite was acquired byElon Musk in 2022.[32][33] Anglin was banned again in May 2023.[34]
TheAnti-Defamation League says that Anglin is controversial among white supremacists for his past relationships with Asian women during his time as anexpat in the Philippines,[35][36] and for his misogyny, including towards white women.[7]