At the home of federal Judge Esther Salas, FBI agents came and went and workers beefed up security. But a neighbor, who described herself as a good friend of the family, speculated that the Salas family would never live at the location again after the fatal shooting that happened on Sunday.
Neighbors in the normally-quiet neighborhood thought the gunshots were fireworks.
“When the gunshots happened, I just opened my door and tried to get out of my house,” said neighbor Wenfeng Zhang. “But I hear the gunshots and it was very loud. Three or even more.”
The FBI says men’s rights attorney Roy Den Hollander dressed in a FedEx delivery uniform, rang the judge’s doorbell, and shot and wounded the judge’s husband, criminal defense attorney Mark Anderl, and killed their 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl who intervened. Salas was in the basement and unharmed as the assailant left after the attack.
Zhang said he saw the shooter leaving.
“It’s most possible a white male, and most possible that he’s not very young, that’s what I told them. And he either has very short hair,” he said.
Zhang’s description helped police and federal investigators identify Den Hollander who drove north into New York and shot and killed himself. Investigators suspect he had plans to target New York Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. They also suspect he may have been the person dressed in a FedEx uniform and gunned down another anti-feminist attorney Marc Angelucci in California on July 11.
In 2016, Den Hollander visited NJTV News while representing two women suing the government to include them in the military draft.
“We’re asking, these ladies are asking that they be treated fairly, that they be treated equally, that they not be barred from something just because an accident of nature made them female,” he said.
Den Hollander has long list of anti-feminism pursuits including ladies’ night at clubs and Columbia University for women’s studies and much more.
In his nearly 1,700-page book that was posted online in March, Den Hollander called Salas “ … a lazy and incompetent Latina judge appointed by Obama.” In 2010, Salas became the first Latina appointed to the federal bench in New Jersey.
Den Hollander also discusses his cancer diagnosis at length, which he wrote in the book was terminal. On his website, he wrote, “Now is the time for all good men to fight for their rights before they have no rights left.”
“It’s horrible,” said Zhang. “I saw some rumors on the internet. It’s horrible and horrifying.”
The FBI is requesting tips about Den Hollander from the public. Individuals who believe they have information relevant to the investigation should contact FBI-Newark at 973-792-3000, option 2.
