Race honoring legacy of judge's slain son returns with new charity

NORTH BRUNSWICK – About 1,000 runners are expected to participate in the second and last “Daniel Anderl Love is Light 5K” on July 16 at North Brunswick Community Park, which will commemorate the second anniversary of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas’ son's tragic death.

Funds from the race, sponsored by Saint Augustine of Canterbury School in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, will be used to establish the Daniel Anderl Class of 2014 Scholarship Fund there. The scholarship fund has a goal of $100,000, which will provide for an annual academic award in Anderl's name in perpetuity at the pre-K-8school.

"Danny was a smart, funny, compassionate, competitive, caring and loyal person. He was a popular student-athlete at Saint A's, and graduated in 2014 with honors," the race website states.

In addition, the race serves to honor the legacy of Anderl who sacrificed his life to protect his mother and father from a shooter, and advocate to create national legislation that protects members of the judiciary, similar to New Jersey's Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2020 (“Daniel's Law”) that protects the privacy and security of judiciary members.

"Love is Light" references comments Salas made during an interview in 2020 shortly after her son's death in which she said she relied on her faith to move forward after losing her only child, and forgave his killer because "hate is heavy, love is light."

Race registration is $35 for adults in the 5K run/walk and $25 for students and those 12 and under participating the 5K run/walk. Registration ends on July 7 at 11 p.m. This year there is a limit of 1,000 runners for the event, according to the race's Facebook page. The race starts at 8 a.m. The rain date is July 17.

Registration is $25 for a virtual 5K challenge run/walk and ends at 11 p.m. on July 16.

North Brunswick Community Park, at 2051 Route 130, is where Anderl's family enjoyed daily, long walks with their dogs.

July 19, 2022 will mark the two-year anniversary of the day Anderl was fatally shot inside his family's home by a man disgruntled with his mother.

Shot in the heart, he died protecting his father, defense attorney Mark Anderl, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds in the attack by a man posing as a delivery person. Salas, who was in another part of the house, was not physically injured.

Daniel Anderl, a Catholic University student with plans to follow in his parents’ footsteps by becoming a lawyer, was a 2018 graduate of St. Joseph High School in Metuchen where he played on the baseball team. The 2021 inaugural 5K benefitted the St. Joseph High School Daniel Anderl '18 Memorial Scholarship Fund. The St. Joseph High School baseball field has been dedicated in his name.

A plaque at Catholic University has been dedicated to Daniel Anderl, and a tree was planted at Saint Augustine of Canterbury School in his memory.

Around 5 p.m. July 19, 2020, after the Anderl family had spent the weekend celebrating Daniel's 20th birthday with some of his friends at their home, the doorbell rang and both Daniel and his father went to the door where a gunman, posing as a delivery person, opened fire, killing Daniel and critically wounding his father.

The gunman, Roy Den Hollander, 72, of New York, a self-proclaimed anti-feminist attorney who grew up in Bergen County and had a case pending before Salas, was found dead in a car of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Rockland County, New York, the next day.

In the car, investigators found a list of other potential targets, including another federal judge in New Jersey and two New York judges.

Following her son's death, Salas called for more privacy for federal judges, noting the gunman who targeted her family had access to her home address and the church her family attended.

While New Jersey has Daniel's Law which prohibits the disclosure of home addresses of current or retired judges, as well as prosecutors, law enforcement officers and their spouses or children, a similar federal law has yet to be approved.

Additional information about the race and donations to St. Augustine are available here.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Race honoring legacy of Judge Ester Salas' slain son returns in July