Federal judge calls for privacy protections after her son was killed and her husband was shot by 'madman'
- Esther Salas, a US federal judge, released a video on Monday concerning the July 19 killing of her son.
- "Two weeks ago, my life as I knew it changed in an instant, and my family will never be the same," Salas said.
- Salas called for federal judges to enjoy greater privacy protections, noting that her son's killer had found her home address online.
- "We may not be abler to stop something like this again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down," she said.
A federal judge who authorities say her family was targeted by an "anti-feminist" killer, leaving her son dead and husband gravely wounded, released a video on Monday pleading for action to prevent such future tragedies.
"Two weeks ago, my life as I knew it changed in an instant, and my family will never be the same," US Judge Esther Salas said in the video. "A madman, who I believe was targeting me because of my position as a federal judge, came to my house."
Posing as a delivery driver, that suspect, Roy Den Hollander, opened fire on Judge Salas' son, Daniel, who was at the New Jersey home celebrating his 20th birthday. Mother and son had been talking after a "glorious" weekend when the doorbell rang. Daniel rushed to see who it was.
"This monster, who had a FedEx package in his hand, opened fire," Salas noted. "He took the shooter's first bullet directly to the chest. The monster then turned his attention to his husband... one shot after another."
Salas' husband remains hospitalized.
Hollander was later found in his car, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Authorities believe the judge's family was targeted because she was overseeing a lawsuit filed by the alleged killer alleging that the military draft is unconstitutional because it only pertains to men.
In her video, Salas called for action to protect the privacy of federal judges, noting that her address and other private information are available for sale on the internet.
"We may not be abler to stop something like this again, but we can make it hard for those who target us to track us down," she said.
According to The New York Times, the two US Senators from New Jersey, Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, are working on legislation to do just that, aiming to "keep personal information about federal judges outside of the public domain."
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