The federal judge whose son was killed by a misogynistic lawyer released her first statement about the shooting Monday, describing the horror that unfolded as her 20-year-old only child ran to answer the door and a “madman” opened fire.
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The judge, Esther Salas, also issued a call for increased privacy protections for federal judges, saying the death of her son, Daniel, should not be in vain. Her husband, Mark Anderl, who was shot three times, remains hospitalized.
“Two weeks ago, my life as I knew it changed in an instant, and my family will never be the same,” Salas said in her video statement. “A madman, who I believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge, came to my house.”
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She described a weekend celebration at their New Jersey home for Daniel’s 20th birthday that included several of his friends from Catholic University of America, who had stayed overnight.
“The weekend was a glorious one,” Salas added, choking back tears. “It was filled with love, laughter, and smiles.”
She and her son were in the basement talking when the doorbell rang.
“Daniel looked at me and said, ‘Who is that?’”
“And before I could say a word, he sprinted upstairs. Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming, ‘No!’”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Daniel’s final act, she said, was to protect his father from the man she described as a monster.
“He took the shooter’s first bullet directly to the chest,” she said. “The monster then turned his attention to my husband and began to shoot at my husband, one shot after another.”
Salas said the man, believed to have been Roy Den Hollander, who later killed himself, was carrying a FedEx package in his hand — an apparent ruse to coax the family to open the door.
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Until that moment on July 19, it had been an otherwise routine Sunday: Salas and her husband went to church, and Daniel, who was about to start his junior year in college, caught up on some sleep after his friends left for the weekend.
She said Den Hollander had compiled a dossier on her and her family, including their address in North Brunswick, New Jersey, and the church they attended.
Days before, Den Hollander, 72, had traveled by train to San Bernardino County, California, where he shot and killed a rival men’s rights lawyer at his home, authorities said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Hours after the shooting in New Jersey, police found Den Hollander’s body off a road in upstate New York with a single gunshot to the head.
Den Hollander was a self-described “anti-feminist” with a record of virulently misogynistic and hateful writing. He represented the most extreme element of the men’s right movement whose online discussions in recent years have become increasingly menacing toward women.
He was apparently angry at Salas for not moving quickly enough on a lawsuit he had brought challenging the constitutionality of the male-only draft.
Salas said she understood that judge’s decisions would be scrutinized.
“We know that our job requires us to make tough calls, and sometimes those calls can leave people angry and upset,” she said. “That comes with the territory and we accept that.
“But what we cannot accept is when we are forced to live in fear for our lives because personal information, like our home addresses, can be easily obtained by anyone seeking to do us or our families harm.”
She called for a national conversation on ways to safeguard the privacy of federal judges.
“My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure,” she said, “And I am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain.”
