Investigators examining if killing of men’s rights activist last week is connected to attack at federal judge’s home
Authorities are investigating any possible connections between Roy Den Hollander, the men’s rights attorney suspected of shooting a federal judge’s family on Sunday, and the murder of another men’s rights activist in California last week, according to a law enforcement source.
The suspect in the California shooting on July 11 was believed to be wearing a FedEx uniform, the source said. Den Hollander also appears to have worn a FedEx uniform in the New Jersey shooting, CNN has reported.
Den Hollander was found dead on Monday from what two law enforcement sources said is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. An “anti-feminist” attorney with a long list of personal grievances and sexist and racist views, he is suspected of fatally shooting the son and injuring the husband of US District Court Judge Esther Salas at the family’s New Jersey home.
Back on July 11, Marc Angelucci, the 52-year-old vice president of the National Coalition for Men (NCFM), was found unresponsive and with apparent gunshot wounds just after 4 p.m. in Cedarpines Park, a community in southern California, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Angelucci was pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect was described as an unknown male, and the motive is not known, the sheriff’s department said. The NCFM said he was shot and killed in front of his home.
NCFM president Harry Crouch told CNN affiliate KCAL that Den Hollander had once been on the organization’s board but was removed after threatening Crouch.
“But I want to be real clear, he’s not a NCFM member. Why isn’t he? Because I threw him out five or six years ago, because he was a nut job,” Crouch told KCAL. He did not respond to a CNN request for comment.
Prominent men’s rights activist killed
Angelucci was a prominent men’s rights activist and served as the vice president and board member of the NCFM, an organization that fights what they argue is legal discrimination against men. He received his law degree in 2000 and the following year formed the Los Angeles chapter of the NCFM, serving as the chapter’s president until 2008, the organization said.
A practicing attorney, Angelucci led the organization’s 2008 lawsuit against California in which an appeals court held it is unconstitutional to exclude male victims from domestic violence services. More recently, he and the NCFM won a case that argued the Selective Service Administration’s male-only military draft was unconstitutional. The ruling is currently under appeal.
Den Hollander had argued one case before Judge Salas in 2015 that similarly said the male-only military draft was unconstitutional. Salas sided against a part of Den Hollander’s arguments last spring, but also agreed with some of his claims and allowed the lawsuit to continue on.
Den Hollander exited the case in 2019 and told the law firm that picked it up that he was terminally ill.
In 2016, Angelucci was featured in the film “The Red Pill,” a sympathetic portrayal of the men’s rights movement. The film’s title refers to online communities who generally believe feminism is toxic, men are oppressed, and emasculation is ruining society.
Los Angeles Times film critic Katie Walsh wrote that the film “is built on a fundamental misunderstanding of the relevant terms, including ‘rights,’ ‘patriarchy’ and ‘feminism.’ “
The NCFM said in a statement it was deeply saddened by the attack on Salas’s family.
“We are deeply dismayed to hear that this senseless act was perpetrated by a self-described men’s rights activist and unequivocally denounce anyone who uses violence to intimidate and harm people,” said Harry Crouch, president of NCFM. “We offer our condolences and prayers to Judge Salas and the Anderl family.”
