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After Dean Obeidallah wrote an article in the Daily Beast condemning President Trump's approach to supremacist terror in 2017, the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, website, falsely accused Obeidallah of being behind an attack by Islamic state.
Now, the founder of the Daily Stormer is forced to pay him millions for the smear.
Obeidallah, a comedian and radio host, sued Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin for defamation. A judge ordered Wednesday Anglin to pay 4.1 million dollars in damages.
"The judge apparently found what they did so atrocious, he gave them all he could in punitive damages," Obeidallah told the Daily Beast.
He announced his intention to give this money to organizations fighting against sectarianism.
"It was never a question of collecting money. If I collect a cent from the Nazis, I will not keep their money. I will give it to organizations that fight against hatred and fanaticism, groups that the Nazis despise. "
Anglin, who has been around for more than a year, has not testified, unlike his father. The ruling comes the last legal strike against Anglin, who is currently avoiding another prosecution of a Jewish woman who had received death threats after being attacked by Anglin on her site.
In the case of Obeidallah, the harassment began after he wrote an article entitled "Will Donald Trump ever say the words" white supremacist terrorism "?
"We have already had three to four acts of violence, murders, on the part of people who have been self-proclaimed white supremacists. The thesis of my article was that during his election campaign, Trump had demanded that we speak of "radical Islamic terrorism". Why will not he say the words "terrorism of white supremacy," said Obeidallah, who is Muslim.
"This drew the eye of Andrew Anglin to the Daily Stormer who wrote an article the next day, quoting my article and smearing me on the front line as the brain of ISIS."
"They made tweets that seemed real, which indicated that I was involved in the Manchester bombing."
– Dean Obeidallah
The trafficked tweets appeared on Stormer, a once-popular website that received about 3.18 million page views while the article was active, according to the lawsuit filed by Obeidallah. (The Stormer lost an important position after being kicked out of its former host.)
Stormer's readers hasten, sending death threats to Obeidallah. The attacks took him to task, he said. While Obeidallah had once had little reluctance to meet fans, he said he was now more cautious about scheduling appointments with people who contact online .
Juvaria Khan, a senior lawyer with the Muslim Advocates group, who helped Obeidallah in her case, said the court's decision sent a strong message about the consequences of hate speech.
"We live in a climate where people feel emboldened to express their dazed views against marginalized communities, including American Muslims," Khan said. "This case is a very important victory. We are very proud of our client Dean for speaking out and showing that violence and sectarianism will not be tolerated. "
Obeidallah said he hoped the victory could be a "road map" for members of other marginalized groups who want to take legal action against white supremacists.
"The idea is to send a message: if you attack these groups, you despise, in my case, Muslims, Jews, the LGBT community or African-Americans, we will not fear," he said.
"We will hold you accountable by going to federal courts and pursuing you. And we will win this judgment against you. "
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