Andrew Anglin

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Andrew Anglin (1984–) is a neo-Nazi and far-right activist who edits for The Daily Stormer, an infamous neo-Nazi webshite with a significant user base.

Before the storm[edit]

Anglin's use of the internet to promote his rather fringe ideas goes back to at least 2006, when he began a website called Outlaw Journalism which primarily promoted various conspiracy theories.[1] Although Anglin is most well known for his neo-Nazi views, that actually did not show up in his writings until 2012, when he launched a website called Total Fascism.[2]

One of the more interesting things about the young Andrew is that, well, he wasn't a horribly racist neo-Nazi. One of his older websites, Adventure Quest 2012, saw him saying that “To mend these wounds [of modern civilization] the world must learn to embrace diversity and color.”[3] Elsewhere, he declared “I think the white race should be bred out,” in response to seeing various people in The Philippines embrace Western culture.[1]

Not all white supremacists have been able to forgive Anglin for his previous rhetoric. Marilyn Mayo of the Anti-Defamation League told Joel Oliphint and Andy Downing of Columbus Alive the following regarding Anglin's place in the wider movement:

He’s a controversial figure within the white supremacist movement because he lived in Asia and the Philippines, and at one time he had relationships with Asian and Filipino women, which is considered something that is traitorous by white supremacists.[3]

Exactly what caused Anglin's change to neo-Nazism is a rather complicated question. Anglin claims to have first been introduced to his ideology through browsing the imageboard 4chan.[4] However, he also credits his experiences in Mindanao,Wikipedia a place he previously planned to stay after deciding he wanted to marry a Muslim woman, to his conversion. Specifically, he notes how lonely he felt and determined that he could only manage to find kinship with his fellow Europeans.[3]

Troll of the movement[edit]

By Anglin's own admission, the reason he shut down Total Fascism and moved to The Daily Stormer was because of the former's inability to appeal to younger readers, causing him to focus on short, simple articles which support his views for the latter.[2] The writing guide for The Daily Stormer even includes a section about how to properly troll the targets of the articles being written, with the main goal being more attention from the mainstream media.[5]:15-17 To put it another way: Anglin runs under the "all publicity is good publicity" model of thinking. If he does something that causes one hundred people to hear about his website for the first time, and one of them joins his cause, he considers that a win. And if he can do something like that a thousand times, then he has created one thousand new solders in the movement. Similar to his past leftism, this has made him a polarizing figure in the wider movement, with both the white nationalist website Counter-Currents and the blog Alternative Right criticizing Anglin due to his desire to bring down the moment to the lowest common denominator.[3] Some have even gone so far as to claim he is secretly a Jewish person sent to discredit the movement.[6]

Sexism and homophobia[edit]

Andrew Anglin is also known for his extreme misogyny and homophobia. He likes to fantasize about Aryan rape gangs, sex slaves and breeding farms.[7]

Anglin believes that age of consent laws should be abolished.[8] On the subject of child marriage, he stated: "To be clear, I unrepentantly support forced child marriage. I just want to reiterate that, unequivocally."[9]

The Daily Stormer has promoted the concept of White Sharia, i.e. of women being reduced to the status of property to be beaten and raped.[10]

Before Anglin marketed himself as a white supremacist, he was a sexpat in the Philippines and had a preference for young and even underage Asians,[11] reportedly picking up a 14-year-old in a bar.[12]

Legal Troubles[edit]

Anglin has found himself in a series of legal issues over the years. In 2019, he was ordered to pay fourteen million dollars to Tanya Gersh, a real estate agent he incited harassment against.[13] In 2022, his ignoring of this judgement against him caused a judge in Montana to put out a warrant for his arrest.[14] Elsewhere, he has been asked to pay three quarters of a million dollars to a black woman whom he and his website engaged in the harassment of.[15]

References[edit]