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This lawsuit has always been about stopping others from enduring the terror I continue to live through

On Monday, a federal judge recommended that Anglin should be ordered to pay Gersh more than $14 million in damages, finding that the neo-Nazi had “acted with actual malice” when he posted her contact information online and encouraged his followers to harass her. (“Tell them you are sickened by their Jew agenda,” wrote Anglin, whose whereabouts are now unknown.) Though it’s unclear whether she will ever see any of that money, Gersh said Monday that the judge’s findings sent a clear message to Anglin and other extremists.

“This lawsuit has always been about stopping others from enduring the terror I continue to live through at the hands of a neo-Nazi and his followers,” she said in a statement.

The barrage of online invective and threats that Gersh and her family received followed accusations that she tried to extort the mother of prominent white nationalist Richard Spencer. In late 2016, Sherry Spencer, who owned a commercial building in Whitefish, began facing scrutiny because of her son’s racist views, and some residents discussed protesting outside the property.

After she learned about the potential protests, Gersh contacted some of her friends who rented space in the building to give them a heads-up, according to the lawsuit that the Southern Poverty Law Center filed on her behalf. She subsequently received a phone call from Sherry Spencer, asking for her advice.

Gersh suggested that Spencer sell the building, make a donation and publicly disavow her son’s views, the lawsuit says. At first, Spencer seemed receptive, but she soon changed her mind. In a since-deleted post on Medium, she accused Gersh of trying to threaten her into selling.