One morning near the end of her long-shot congressional campaign, 25-year-old Erin Schrode rolled over in bed, reflexively checked her phone and burst into tears.
With mounting horror, she scanned a barrage of anti-Semitic emails from anonymous trolls.
"Get to Israel to where you belong. That or the oven. Take your pick," read one comment.
Schrode, a Democrat and activist who would come third in the June primary in her Northern California district, had become the latest target of The Daily Stormer, a popular neo-Nazi website known for orchestrating internet trolling campaigns.
After the site published a post about the "jewess" and her candidacy, a reader posted Schrode's contact information in the comments section.
Over the past 10 months, her email and social media accounts have been polluted with a torrent of slurs and disturbing images.
Her tormentors are faceless. They hide behind screen names.
Andrew Auernheimer says he is not one of them, but he applauds their vitriolic spirit.
A notorious computer hacker and internet troll associated with The Daily Stormer, Auernheimer scoffs at the notion that anyone can be harmed by "mean words on the internet".
For him, anonymous trolling is a modern form of a generations-old, "distinctly American" political tactic.
"Being offensive is a political act," he said.
"The reality is internet trolling is entertaining. People love to watch it.
"It's become a national sport...it's something that anyone can jump into."
Auernheimer, whose anti-Semitic rhetoric matches the swastika tattooed on his chest, chuckled at the mention of Schrode's name.
"Why should I have any empathy? What's she ever done for me?" he asked.
Trolling is a calling card of the "alt-right" - a fringe movement that uses internet memes, message boards and social media to spread racism, anti-Semitism and misogyny.
Auernheimer, 31, known online as "weev", has served as a technical consultant for The Daily Stormer.
In 2014, he wrote a post for the site about his time in prison for identity theft and conspiracy charges.
A judge sentenced him to 41 months in prison, but he was released in 2014 after an appeals court panel overturned his convictions.
Twitter suspended his account in December, possibly as part of the social media company's effort to crack down on hate and abuse.
"They're only interested in curbing abusive behaviour of people whose political ideology they disagree with," he said.
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