'I WILL NOT BE FRIGHTENED'
Back-to-job judge's vow for slain son
The New Jersey federal judge whose son was killed and husband wounded by a crazed gunman last July returned to the bench Tuesday — but was torn about going back to work because she blames her job for the tragedy, she said in a television interview.
Speaking to “Good Morning America,” Judge Esther Salas called her return “bittersweet.”
“I’m returning to a job that I love so much, but also because of this job, I lost my only son,” she said in the interview. “It’s hard to reconcile those emotions.”
However, the judge said her son ultimately would have wanted her to get back to work.
“But I can tell you this, I know Daniel would want me to come back. And I know that Daniel would want me to represent all women and Latinas everywhere and come back and show that I am not deterred. And I will not be frightened or afraid to do what I love to do,” Salas said.
Her son, Daniel Anderl, was shot and killed on July 19, 2020, by misogynist, racist Manhattan lawyer Roy Den Hollander — who had disguised himself as a FedEx driver during the murder.
Den Hollander had ranted against Salas in an online screed after he presented a case in front of the New Jersey jurist in 2015.
“Salas worked as an associate in an ambulance chasing firm doing basic criminal work,” he seethed. “Left that firm to work as a public defender in the New Jersey District Court representing lumpen proletariat ne’er-do-wells.
“Joined 135 politically correct organizations trying to convince America that whites, especially white males, were barbarians and all those of a darker skin complexion were victims,” the rant continued.
In addition to fatally blasting 20-year-old Daniel, Den Hollander shot Salas’ husband, Mark Anderl, who survived his injuries. Den Hollander later killed himself.
In her interview Tuesday, Salas credited both of them with stopping Den Hollander from killing more women judges whom he apparently was targeting, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “Because of my son’s bravery, because of my husband’s bravery, a lot of people, I think, were spared,” she said.
“I want to ensure that we spare all of the men and women that serve on the bench because all that we’re doing is our job,” she added.