(JTA) — Andrew Anglin, the founder of neo-Nazi site the Daily Stormer, was ordered to pay $4.1 million in damages for having defamed a Muslim-American comedian.
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Ohio ordered Anglin to compensate Dean Obeidallah for falsely accusing him of being behind a terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State. Anglin’s whereabouts are unknown, and he did not testify in the lawsuit.
The Muslim comedian and writer said he received death threats after Anglin claimed he was the “mastermind” behind a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in England in 2017.
Anglin is currently being sued by two other people for harassment, including a Jewish woman whom he targeted on the Daily Stormer.
Obeidallah said he will give the money to groups fighting bigotry.
“The idea is about sending a message: If you attack these groups you despise, in my case Muslims, or Jews, or the LGBT community, or African-Americans, we are not going to cower,” he told the Daily Beast, for which he is a contributor.
