Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer, has gone missing as numerous lawsuits against him pile up, Cleveland.com reports.
The 33-year-old has become known for his site promoting white supremacy, but also for launching attacks on those he deems enemies. In one case, Anglin posted 30 articles on his site criticizing and lambasting a Whitefish, Montana woman named Tanya Gersh.
The articles were written after news broke about an interaction Gersh had with the mother of white nationalist Richard B. Spencer, Sherry Spencer, who lives near her.
According to Gersh, she reached out to Spencer to ask her to disavow her son's racial and political beliefs. Gersh also said that she knew that protests were going to take place at a rental building that Sherry Spencer owned, and that she advised Spencer to sell the building as a way to cool local tensions. Finally, Gersh suggested that Spencer donate the proceeds of any sale to a charity.
Spencer did not agree that this was a good idea, and wrote that Gersh was targeting her and was trying to decrease the the value of her property. However, Gersh denies this, and says she was simply trying to speak to Spencer mother-to-mother.
Anglin responded to Spencer's post by writing about Gersh on his website from December 2016 through January 2017. He claimed that Gersh was running a "Jewish extortion and racketeering ring." He called Gersh a "vile Jew," and repeatedly attacked her faith and culture in the 30 articles he published.
As CNN has reported, as a result of the Stormer's articles, Gersh received a constant stream of threatening phone calls and messages. White supremacists got her contact information after Anglin published it on his site, the Atlantic reports. Now, she is trying to sue Anglin.
"Ms. Gersh and her family have received over 700 harassing messages, including death threats, at all times of the day and night with noticeably more messages being received immediately following the publication of each of Mr. Anglin's articles," Gersh's court filing states.
However, Anglin can't be found in order to serve him his court papers.
Comedian Dean Obeidallah is having a similar problem. A Muslim American, Obeidallah was accused of being responsible for the Ariana Grande concert bombing in London that left 23 dead and 250 injured by Anglin.
Anglin's fake news article spurred death threats aimed at the comedian. The comments section on the neo-Nazi site had one comment that instructed Obeidallah to "look down this barrel and verify if my gun is clean like a good terrorist," the lawsuit the comedian has against Anglin said.
The Huffington Post reports that Anglin, who usually resides in Ohio, is a "stateless" person. His lawyers argue that he is “not a citizen of any state.” It has been rumored that Anglin lives abroad, possibly in Nigeria.
However, a Columbus, Ohio process server said that he saw Anglin at a supermarket in that city, but that he didn't have Anglin's court papers on him.
Anglin's lawyers are preparing a case based on a First Amendment defense should he be found.
One of those attorneys, Marc Randazza, said, "The heart of the matter is this is a First Amendment case. As go the rights of Mr. Anglin, so go the rights of us all."
Those critical of Anglin's actions say that the First Amendment is one thing, but inciting violence and spreading hate speech are something else.
Unless Anglin is found, any legal questions might be moot. It isn't clear if these trials can continue if the defendant in them hasn't been served his court papers.
And so, the hunt is on for Anglin.
The Huffington Post put out a call to its readers, asking them to "help us find him." The Southern Poverty Law Center told Cleveland.com that "Our lawyers have expended a tremendous amount of time trying to find him." And, of course Gersh and Obeidallah are on the lookout as well. Despite all of this, however, he remains at large.
