The federal judge whose son was killed on the doorstep of her New Jersey home is speaking out for the first time since a gunman opened fire on her family last month.
U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas addressed her son’s death in a video message posted Monday and advocated for changes to make personal information, including home addresses, of federal officials less easily obtainable.
“As federal judges, we understand that our decisions will be scrutinized, and some may disagree strongly with our rulings,” Salas said. “We know that our job requires us to make tough calls, and sometimes those calls can lead people angry and upset. That comes with the territory, and we accept that. But what we cannot accept is when we are forced to live in fear of our lives because personal information, like our home addresses, can easily be obtained by anyone seeking to do us or our families harm. Unfortunately, for my family, the threat was real, and the free flow of information from the internet allowed this sick and depraved human being to find all our personal information and target us.”
Salas’s son Daniel Anderl, 20, was killed after he opened the door to a man dressed as a FedEx worker who then opened fire on him and his father, Mark Anderl. Mark Anderl, a defense attorney who was standing behind his son, suffered injuries from being shot multiple times and underwent surgery at a local hospital.
The man who opened fire, identified as Roy Den Hollander, was found dead by an apparent self-inflicted wound shortly after the shooting. Hollander was known as a self-described “anti-feminist” lawyer and previously crossed paths with Salas when she presided over a 2015 legal fight involving a woman who wanted to register for the men-only military draft. Hollander attacked Salas in online posts at the time, accusing her of using her Hispanic heritage to get ahead in her career.
Salas described the weekend leading up to the tragic killing of her son as one that was celebratory of his 20th birthday. She said she was having a conversation with her son when Hollander first rang the doorbell.
“Within seconds, I heard the sound of bullets and someone screaming “No!,” Salas said. “I later learned that this monster, who had a FedEx package in his hand, opened fire. But, Daniel, being Daniel, protected his father, and he took the shooter’s first bullet directly to the chest. The monster then turned his attention to my husband and began to shoot at my husband. … While my husband is still in the hospital recovering from multiple surgeries, we are living every parent’s worst nightmare, making preparations to bury our only child, Daniel.”
Salas described the pain her family has experienced and called on those in power to create more barriers to retrieve personal data.
“My family has experienced a pain that no one should ever have to endure, and I am here asking everyone to help me ensure that no one ever has to experience this kind of pain,” Salas said. “We may not be able to stop something like this from happening again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down.”
