NEW YORK (AP) — A self-described far-right propagandist from Florida was convicted Friday on charges alleging he conspired to disenfranchise people in the 2016 presidential election.
Douglass Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court before Judge Ann M. Donnelly after a week-long trial. On the Internet, he was known as «Ricky Vaughn.»
In 2016, Mackey had about 58,000 followers on Twitter and was ranked by the MIT Media Lab as the 107th most important influencer of the upcoming presidential election, prosecutors said. He had described himself as an “American nationalist” who regularly retweeted Trump and promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud by Democrats.
Mackey, who was arrested in January 2021, could face up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing is set for August 16.
His attorney, Andrew Frisch, said in an email that the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan will have multiple reasons for choosing to vacate the conviction.
“We are optimistic about our chances of appeal,” Frisch said.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement that the jury rejected Mackey’s cynical attempt to use First Amendment free speech protections to shield himself from criminal liability for a voter suppression scheme.
«Today’s verdict demonstrates that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed the line of criminality,» he said.
The government alleged that from September 2016 to November 2016, Mackey conspired with other Internet influencers to spread fraudulent messages to Clinton supporters.
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Mackey urged supporters of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to «vote» via text message or social media, knowing those endorsements were not legally valid votes.
At around the same time, prosecutors said, he was sending out tweets suggesting it was important to limit «black participation» in voting booths. One tweet he sent featured a photo of a black woman holding a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to «skip the line» and «vote from home,» according to court documents.
Using social media arguments, an image encouraging fake votes used a font similar to that used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads, prosecutors said. Others tried to imitate the Clinton ads in other ways, they added.
By Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique phone numbers texted «Hillary» or something similar to a number that was spread through multiple misleading campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators. the prosecutors said.
Twitter has said it worked closely with the proper authorities on the issue.