A racial discrimination lawsuit filed against The Daily Stormer recently settled for $725,000.
Taylor Dumpson, the first African-American female student body president of American University, was recently awarded $725,000 in a lawsuit she filed against Andrew Anglin and the neo-Nazi website ‘The Daily Stormer.’ The suit was originally filed over allegations that Anglin “incited a troll storm targeting Dumpson.” This is the third lawsuit judgment handed down in the last three months against Anglin. One case resulted in a $14 million judgment against him.
What is Dumpson’s story, though? What prompted her to file the suit against Anglin? It all began the day Dumpson was sworn in as the student body president at American University in May 2017. On that day, “bananas were found hanging on nooses around campus.” According to the suit, “the bananas had messages scrawled on them, including one that referred to Ms. Dumpson’s predominantly black sorority and another that read ‘HARAMBE BAIT,’ a reference to the gorilla killed at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2016.”
Shortly after news of the nooses began circulating on news outlets, Anglin “posted Dumpson’s personal information online and encouraged his followers to harass her.” Some of his followers, Brain Ade and Evan McCarty, answered Anglin’s call to action and began threatening Dumpson “with racist and demeaning messages online,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed last year.
As a result of the harassment and discrimination, Dumpson “constantly feared for her safety and learned she had post-traumatic stress disorder.” Her lawyer, Kristen Clarke, chimed in and said that despite the harassment, Dumpson “went on to graduate from American University and is enrolled in law school.”
In addition to naming Anglin as a defendant, the suit also named McCarty, Ade, and the “limited liability company Moonbase Holdings, which provides The Daily Stormer and Mr. Anglin financial support.” However, back in December McCarty agreed to a settlement in which he “agreed to apologize, renounce white supremacy, undergo counseling and help civil rights groups fight hate and bigotry.”
When commenting on the ruling Judge Rosemary Collyer of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia said, “Ms. Dumpson was targeted because of her race and gender.” As part of the settlement, Dumpson will receive $124,000 in attorneys’ fees, $500,000 in punitive damages, and $101,000 in compensatory damages.
When asked about the incident and the recent ruling, Clarke said:
“Too often hate crime victims don’t get justice, but that didn’t happen here…the ruling should make it incredibly difficult for The Daily Stormer to carry on business as usual…This ruling is historic in that it marks the first time that a court has deemed racist online trolling activity that can interfere with one’s equal access to public accommodation. The court’s ruling recognizes the real-world damage done when bigots take to the internet to target and threaten African-Americans and other people of color.”
Sources:
Student Wins $725,000 in Lawsuit Over ‘Troll Storm’ Led by The Daily Stormer
Former AU Student President Awarded $725,000 In Case Against Neo-Nazi Website
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