The gunman suspected of attacking Judge Esther Salas' family was a men's rights advocate and self-identified 'anti-feminist'

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The gunman suspected of attacking Judge Esther Salas' family was a men's rights advocate and self-identified 'anti-feminist'
Attorney Roy Den Hollander touted his "anti-feminist" beliefs on his website.Screenshot from http://www.roydenhollander.com/
  • Several media outlets have identified Roy Den Hollander as the gunman who shot the son and husband of New Jersey federal Judge Esther Salas.
  • Hollander, a self-described "anti-feminist" lawyer, was found dead from an apparent suicide in upstate New York a day after the attack, according to multiple media reports.
  • Salas' son, Daniel Anderl, was killed and her husband, Mark Anderl, was seriously injured.
  • Hollander is a well-known attorney who has fought several cases opposing women's causes or privileges.
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A website for men's rights activist and lawyer Roy Den Hollander reads like the ramblings of a bitter man unhinged.

On it, he described cases he's argued in opposition to causes or privileges of the " PC/Feminist collective" — like Ladies' Nights at bars, the female exclusion from the military draft, the Violence Against Women Act, and women's' studies college courses.

The site has a section dedicated to "jokes," which is simply a document that listing dozens of anti-women and racist comments. None of them are humorous and several of them are incoherent.

It also links to another site Hollander appears to have run, "been-scammed.com," which described at great length his marriage and divorce from a Russian woman he said turned out to be a sex worker who took advantage of him.

"Wise Up Guys!" his personal website reads. "The Feminists are waging a war against you and you're losing."

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Hollander was propelled to infamy Monday when he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Liberty, New York.

Unnamed law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast, The New York Times, and others that he is suspected of carrying out an attack on the family of New Jersey federal Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick, New Jersey, a day earlier.

While dressed as a FedEx driver and armed with a gun, the suspect arrived at Salas' home and knocked on the door. When Salas' son, 20-year-old Daniel Anderl, came to the door, he was killed. Her husband, Mark Anderl, was standing behind his son and was seriously injured in the shooting.

The gunman suspected of attacking Judge Esther Salas' family was a men's rights advocate and self-identified 'anti-feminist'
A law enforcement official is seen outside the home of federal judge Esther Salas, in North Brunswick, New JerseyREUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Hollander made a career out of trying to dismantle female-centric protections or causes

Law enforcement had not yet announced any motive that Hollander may have had for the attack on Salas' family, but court documents reviewed by Insider show that he and co-counsel Michael J. Daher had a case before her.

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The case was filed on behalf of a young woman and alleges that the Selective Service System that bars females from registering for the draft violates the law.

Oral arguments in the case were scheduled to be heard by Salas last month, but were "cancelled without new date," the court docket read.

The case was initially filed in 2015. Daher didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Hollander has been a party in a long list of federal cases, several of which include men's rights efforts.

In 2008, he sued Columbia University in an attempt to disband their women's studies courses. It was dismissed without standing.

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A year earlier, Hollander had filed a suit against a group of nightclubs that were charging men cover fees while allowing women in for free.

In it, Hollander alleged that he and other men have been discriminated against by clubs giving preference to women. The New York federal court dismissed his case. He appealed to the second circuit, but was again unsuccessful.

"Den Hollander, who was admitted to Nightclubs under this admission regime, attributes these pernicious 'Ladies' Nights' to '40 years of lobbying and intimidation by the special interest group called 'Feminism," the appeals court judge later wrote.

Hollander failed to show how the private clubs were state actors, the appeals court wrote, upholding the lower court's dismissal.

"The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case, so their glasses are half full and most likely paid for by a guy," Hollander wrote on his website. "Since the Second Circuit's decision stands, nightclubs can let girls in for less, but the clubs cannot charge guys more for drinks, assuming the clubs follow the law which they don't."

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