Lawyer suspected of shooting judge’s son, husband
A gunman dressed as a FedEx delivery driver, who shot and critically wounded the husband of a federal judge in New Jersey and killed her son, is an antifeminist lawyer who recently had a case before the judge, according to reports.
After knocking on the North Brunswick, N.J., home of U.S. District Judge Esther Salas, and riddling her husband and son with bullets, the killer appears to have taken his life near Liberty, N.Y., according to ABC.
The killer was men’s rights activist and attorney Roy Den Hollander, 72, according to the Daily Beast.
Salas’ husband Mark Anderl, a 63-year-old criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor, remains in stable condition in an area hospital. Her 20-year-old son Daniel died at the scene.
Anderl answered a knock on the door of the family’s house on a quiet tree-lined street in North Brunswick about 5 p.m. Sunday, NBC reported. Daniel Anderl was shot when he came to his father’s aid.
Salas was appointed to the federal bench nine years ago by President Barack Obama. Previously, she was a magistrate judge and a public defender.
Salas had recently been appointed to preside over a case involving Deutsche Bank and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who hanged himself in a federal lockup while awaiting trial for sexually abusing dozens of young women.
According to court documents, Hollander was a lawyer in a case pending before Salas challenging the military’s male-only draft. The self-described “anti-feminist” had railed against the gender-based service requirement, which he described as an attack on men’s rights.
Hollander was taken off of the case in June 2019. The plaintiff hired a new attorney.
Among those shocked by the attack was U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
“On behalf of the entire
Justice Department, I send my deepest condolences to Judge Salas and her family on the death of their son and wish her husband a swift and complete recovery,” Barr said in a statement. “This kind of lawless, evil action carried out against a member of the federal judiciary will not be tolerated, and I have ordered the full resources of the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service to investigate the matter.”
The investigation is likely to focus on any ties between Salas and Hollander.
Hollander had attached himself to other so-called male oppression crusades in the past. A Manhattan Supreme Court judge said Hollander was not the victim of age and gender discrimination in 2010 when a bouncer at Amnesia nightclub told him to pay up, while letting a young lady in for free.
“There’s no justice for guys in this day and age,” Hollander said at the time.
He also sued several Manhattan hot spots including the Copacabana for organizing “ladies’ nights” drink specials. The suit was thrown out by federal appeals court in 2010.
In 2008, Hollander also sued Columbia University, claiming it discriminates against men by teaching a doctrine that scapegoats men for all of history’s troubles.