University student sues neo-Nazi website founder over racist ‘troll storm’

A student at American University in Washington, D.C. has filed a federal lawsuit against the founder of a neo-Nazi website, alleging that he organized a racist online campaign against her.

Taylor Dumpson, the first black woman to become president of the American University student government, filed the suit Monday against Andrew Anglin, the founder of The Daily Stormer, according to The Associated Press.

{mosads}Last May, the same day that Dumpson was elected student government president, someone hung bananas on nooses on American University’s campus, sparking national headlines.

The Daily Stormer posted about the incident and included links to Dumpson’s personal social media pages. Dumpson claims in the lawsuit that she has feared for her safety since then and accuses Anglin of organizing his readers to conduct “troll storm,” or harass her online with racist messages.

“This fear did disrupt and continues to disrupt Ms. Dumpson’s daily life,” the suit reads. “The context of the physical hate crime on campus amplifies the severity of the trolling.”

Dumpson’s lawsuit seeks damages and asks a judge to rule that Anglin and two other defendants violated civil rights laws, as well as block them from mentioning her name in online posts and order them to undergo anti-racism and sexism training. 

The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

“This lawsuit sends a strong signal to those who perpetrate hate and promote white supremacy that there are victims who will not cower and who will instead stand up and take action to protect their rights,” the group’s president, Kristen Clarke, told the AP.

At least two other people have filed federal lawsuits against Anglin over similar harassment campaigns.