Andrew Barret Anglin (born July 27, 1984) is an American neo-Nazi and conspiracy theorist, and editor of the website The Daily Stormer. Through this website, Anglin uses elements of Nazism combined with Internet memes originating from 4chan to promote white supremacy, fascism, and antisemitic conspiracy theories such as Holocaust denial to a young audience.
Early life and education
Anglin was born in 1984, and grew up in Worthington, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. According to both Anglin and his childhood classmates, he was liberal as a youth. He attended the Linworth Alternative Program and the Worthington Kilbourne High School from 1999 to 2003, where he was remembered as a JNCOs-wearing dreadlocked atheist vegan who often wore a hoodie with a "fuck racism" patch. His friends in high school report that his behavior changed during his sophomore year at Linworth, where he exhibited self-harming behavior, and began promoting conspiracy theories. After high school, Anglin took classes at Columbus State Community College in 2003, and studied English at Ohio State University for one semester in 2004.
Career
In 2006, Anglin launched a conspiracy theory website, Outlaw Journalism, which he claims was modeled after the works of Alex Jones and Hunter S. Thompson, whom Anglin admired.
According to Anglin, he left the United States in 2007 and moved to Asia, which he described as an "awesome" experience where he developed "affinity for the Asian races". In 2008, after posting on Outlaw Journalism that the only way for humanity to survive was to return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, Anglin began traveling around Southeast Asia, eventually ending up in Davao City. In 2011, he spent several weeks with a Tboli village in southern Mindanao, where he initially intended to stay permanently, selling some of his possessions to raise money for a dowry to marry two local Muslim women. 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", became lonely and only wanted to associate with members of his own race, and "By the Grace of God, I found Adolf Hitler."
In 2012, Anglin launched another website, Adventure Quest 2012, which discussed conspiracy theories such as the existence of reptilian 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". Later in 2012, he launched his first neo-Nazi website, Total Fascism. Feeling that Total Fascism was not appealing to a younger demographic and had articles that were too long, Anglin launched The Daily Stormer on July 4, 2013, with shorter articles and a more provocative style.
Legal issues
SPLC lawsuit
In April 2017, the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Tanya Gersh, accusing Anglin of instigating an anti-Semitic harassment campaign against Gersh, a Whitefish, Montana, real estate agent. In July 2019, a judge issued a $14 million default judgment against Anglin, who is in hiding and has refused to appear in court. On November 9, 2022, a warrant was issued for Anglin's arrest for ignoring the judgment against him.
Sines v. Kessler
In October 2017, Anglin was named as a defendant in a case brought by nine Charlottesville residents following the Unite the Right rally in August 2017. Anglin was named alongside Robert "Azzmador" Ray as responsible for The Daily Stormer website, as well as Moonbase Holdings. A default judgement was entered against Anglin who did not participate in the trial.
Dean Obeidallah
In August 2017, radio presenter Dean Obeidallah sued The Daily Stormer in an Ohio federal court. Anglin had published fake images which purported to show Obeidallah, who is Muslim, celebrating the 2017 Manchester 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. In July, the court found in Obeidallah's favor, with neither Anglin nor his representatives present in court.