Surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but one of the most noxious sites on the Web may have just been put on life support. Back in 2017, comedian and radio host Dean Obeidallah sued the Daily Stormer, perhaps the world’s most notorious neo-Nazi site, for falsely accusing him of orchestrating the Manchester concert bombing.
On Wednesday, after Anglin failed to respond to the suit, a federal judge in Columbus awarded Obeidallah $4.1 million—an amount that could potentially spell finis to Anglin’s operation. This was mentioned in today’s batch of good news, but given the implications it merits a full diary.
Obeidallah said he received death threats after Anglin published an article about him in June 2017. His lawsuit alleged the site embedded fabricated messages in the post to make them seem like they had been sent from Obeidallah’s Twitter account, tricking readers into believing he took responsibility for the May 2017 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester.
Obeidallah said Anglin libeled him, invaded his privacy and intentionally inflicted “emotional distress.”
Anglin hasn’t lived in the United States for some time, and claims he has received so many death threats that it’s far too dangerous. This coming from a guy who has orchestrated some of the worst campaigns of trolling and harassment in recent memory.
Had he shown up, his arguments would have been shot down almost out of hand. Federal judge Edmund Sargus rightly concluded that none of Anglin’s statements were protected speech. Not only must the Daily Stormer take down all the material about Obeidallah, but it is permanently enjoined from discussing the matter again.
Now why does this matter? Well, Anglin faces dozens of other libel suits. If the damages from this suit don’t finish him, at least one of the others will.
From where I’m sitting, Heather Heyer has finally been avenged. Yes, her killer, James Fields—a regular Daily Stormer poster—will spend the rest of his life in prison. But Anglin’s thugs have bombarded Heather’s family with so many threats that her mom, Susan Bro, was forced to bury her ashes in a secret location. So thanks to these very fine people, Heather’s family hasn’t been able to even mourn her in peace. Thanks to Obeidallah wringing Anglin for seven figures, her family may be one step closer to getting real closure.