BREAKING: Neo-Nazi Sued For Anti-Semitic ‘Troll Storm’

Andrew Anglin runs the popular neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer and is calling for a march against Jews who live in Whitefish, Montana. Image by Daily Stormer

By Helen Chernikoff April 18, 2017

A human rights group is suing the publisher of the internet’s biggest neo-Nazi website, alleging that he broke the law in the state of Montana by coordinating a campaign of anti-Semitic harassment against a Jewish real estate agent living in the town of Whitefish.

Andrew Anglin, who runs the Daily Stormer website, launched the campaign in December, providing phone numbers, e-mail addresses and social media links for Tanya Gersh and her family, friends and colleagues, according to the lawsuit.

Anglin had accused Gersh of “extorting” Sherry Spencer, the mother of “alt-right” leader Richard Spencer, who owns property in the town. The alt-right is a loose movement of white supremacists, white nationalists and fellow travelers, operating mainly online.

Gersh received more than 700 instances of harassment, including such e-mail messages as “Ratfaced criminals who play with fire tend to get thrown in the oven,” and “You are a disgusting, vile Jew.” Anglin also planned a march on Whitefish during which participants would carry firearms, although it never took place.

Contact Helen Chernikoff at [email protected]

Helen Chernikoff is the Forward’s News Editor. She came to the Forward from The Jewish Week, where she served as the first web director and created both a blog dedicated to disability issues and a food and wine website. Before that, she covered the housing, lodging and logistics industries for Reuters, where she could sit at her desk and watch her stories move the stock market. Helen has a Master’s of Public Administration from Columbia University and a BA in History and French from Amherst College. She is also a rabbinical school dropout. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter at @thesimplechild.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO