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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JULY 26, 2020
Misogynist killer
Roy Den Hollander, the now-deceased
“men’s rights activist” suspected of killing
the son of a New Jersey federal judge, had
a long history of bringing bizarre lawsuits
to support his anti-feminist agenda — and
some of his more outlandish antics appeared
in a local Brooklyn paper, when he brought
his curious crusade to Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Paper sat down with Den Hollander
in 2011 after the dissident feminist
fi led a class-action lawsuit in federal court to
end the practice of so-called “ladies’ nights”
— wherein women are offered discounts on
drinks at bars and clubs.
After paying more for alcohol than his female
counterparts, the accused future-killer
argued that his guarantees of equal rights
under the 14th amendment were being violated
— leading to a series of retrospectively
“Men these days are treated like second
class citizens,” Den Hollander told Brooklyn
Paper in 2011. “Even a dog has more rights.”
The Paper interviewed a number of
Brooklyn club owners at the time, who
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BY BEN VERDE
ominous proclamations.
pointed out that the discount serves to benefi
t men by increasing the amount of women
in the bar.
“It’s common sense,” Junior, a bar manager
at Club Temptations in Flatbush told
this newspaper nine years ago. “If there are
women at a club, it’s good for guys.”
But Den Hollander’s passion for the
men’s rights cause turned out to be more
than a whimsical sideshow, which saw
him featured on The Colbert Show and Fox
News, and provoked this paper to label him
a harmless ‘knucklehead.’
Years after the oft-mocked ladies’ night
case, Den Hollander fi led another frivolous
lawsuit which came before Judge Esther
Salas — whom he later called “a lazy
and incompetent Latina judge appointed by
Obama.”
Authorities believe Den Hollander approached
Salas’ New Brunswick dressed
as a FedEx driver, and fi red multiple shots
— killing Salas’ son and wounding her husband.
The next day, authorities recovered Den
Hollander’s body in the Hudson Valley, after
an apparent suicide.
Upon realizing that the prime suspect in
the grisly murder was a man she once interviewed,
former Brooklyn Paper scribe Natalie
O’Neill recalled her once-thought-to-be
humerous encounter with Den Hollander
nine years earlier.
“This guy took himself really seriously
on our phone call,” O’Neill, now a freelance
reporter based out of Portland, Oregon remembers.
“He came off really intense.”
But, O’Neill said she never imagined
Den Hollander’s intense antifeminist bent
translating into violence — despite an undercurrent
of hostility to their conversation.
“There was some hostility in the things
he was saying, but not something that I
thought clearly indicated that he would be
violent,” she said.
One particular comment of Den Hollander’s
stands out to O’Neill following his alleged
rampage.
“He said something to the effect of ‘I don’t
want to trash women, I don’t hate women,
women are people too — except for feminists,’”
O’Neill said. “I was like ‘s—-, I guess
I’m not a human.’”
Revisiting a 2011 interview with suspect
in killing of New Jersey judge’s family
Roy Den Hollander, the lead suspect in the murder of a New Jersey judge’s son, holding court papers
after he sued to stop “ladies’ night” in 2011. Photo by Celeste Hunt
Knicks player to fund funeral of one-year-old Bed-Stuy shooting victim
BY ROSE ADAMS
New York Knicks player
Taj Gibson will pay for the
funeral and wake of oneyear
old Davell Gardner,
who was fatally shot at a
Bedford-Stuyvesant barbecue
on July 12, representatives
for Gibson said.
The power forward and
Fort Greene native is paying
out-of-pocket to cover the expenses
of both memorials,
and his charitable foundation,
the Taj Gibson Foundation,
is working with the
Gardner family to provide
them with anything they
need as they mourn their
son’s passing, a member of
the foundation said.
“We are not involved
with the funeral, but we
will be attending,” said
Geo Miller, Gibson’s childhood
friend who helps him
run the Taj Gibson Foundation,
which hosts programs
for underserved Brooklyn
youth. “We just took care of
what the family wanted.”
At about 11:35 pm on July
12, Gardner was critically
wounded when as many
as three gunmen in a dark
SUV opened fi re at Raymond
Bush Playground at
Madison Street and Marcus
Garvey Boulevard.
First responders rushed
the baby and three other
shooting victims to Maimonides
Medical Center,
where the one-year-old died
of his injuries early Monday
morning.
There have been no arrests
in connection to the
shooting, an NYPD spokeswoman
said on July 21.
More than 100 locals attended
a vigil for Gardner
on July 14 on Madison Street
and Marcus Garvey Boulevard,
where attendees called
for “unity” and a stop to the
shootings that have plagued
the neighborhood recently.
“I am asking for unity,”
said local resident Robin
Lyve, who lost her son to
gun violence in September
2005. “We will weed out the
civilians who feel the need
to kill a one-year-old.”
Gardner’s tragic death
comes amid a dramatic
spike in gun violence citywide.
On the night Gardner
was killed, 11 other shootings
occurred across Brooklyn,
and one day later, a
drive-by shooting in Canarsie
left six people shot in just
14 minutes.
On July 18, Gibson organized
a Cease Fire Peace
Walk through Bedford-
Stuyvesant that drew more
than 100 attendees. The
event is one of many efforts
the pro-ball player has made
to give back to his Brooklyn
community and inspire
young people through his
foundation, his friend said.
“What we do is we provide
opportunities for kids,”
said Miller, who grew up
with Gibson in Ingersoll
Houses in Fort Greene, and
added that the foundation is
run by Gibson’s childhood
friends. “All of us are all
friends over 25 years. We’re
like brothers.”
A wake for Davell Gardner
will be held on July 26
from 1 pm to 4 pm at 1 Troy
Ave. in Crown Heights. A
funeral for Gardner will
be held on July 27 at 11 am
at Pleasant Grove Baptist
Church on 1927 Fulton St. in
Weeksville.
Taj Gibson.
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports