Muslim Comedian Wins $4.1 Million In Lawsuit Against Neo-Nazi Website Owner
Dean Obeidallah Image by Getty Images
A Muslim-American comedian was awarded $4.1 million in a lawsuit against the founder of a neo-Nazi website after the comedian was falsely accused of committing a terrorist attack, Huffpost reported.
SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah wrote an article in 2017 criticizing how President Trump was handling white supremacy. After The Daily Stormer website followed up with a piece claiming he was being behind an ISIS attack, Obeidallah sued its founder, Andrew Anglin, for defamation.
The judge ruled that Anglin’s statements weren’t protected under the First Amendment and ordered him to pay $4.1 million in damages.
“The judge apparently found what they did so atrocious he gave them the most he could in punitive damages,” Obeidallah told The Daily Beast.
He said it was never about the money; he’s going to donate it to groups dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, “the very groups Nazis despise.”
Anglin was recently dropped by his attorneys because he’s hiding overseas to avoid a different trial. In 2016, he allegedly encouraged his followers to start an anti-Semitic “troll storm” against a Jewish Montana woman. She sued him a year later.
Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
