NEW YORK (AP) – A self-styled far-right propagandist from Florida was indicted Friday on charges that he conspired to deprive individuals of their right to vote in the 2016 presidential election.
Douglass Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was convicted in Brooklyn federal court before Judge Ann M. Donnelly after a one-week trial.
On the internet, he is known as “Ricky Vaughn.”
In 2016, Mackey had about 58,000 Twitter followers and was ranked by the MIT Media Lab as the 107th most important influence in the upcoming presidential election, prosecutors said. He 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 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan would have multiple reasons for choosing to vacate the conviction.
“We are optimistic about our chances in the appeal,” said Frisch.
US Attorney Breon Peace said in a release that the jury rejected Mackey’s cynical attempt to use the First Amendment’s free speech protection to shield himself from criminal responsibility for the voter suppression scheme.
“Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent behavior crossed the criminal line,” he said.
The government alleges that from September 2016 to November 2016, Mackey conspired with several other internet influencers to spread fraudulent messages to Clinton supporters.
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Mackey asked supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” through text messages or social media, knowing that the endorsements were not valid votes.
At the same time, prosecutors said, he sent a tweet suggesting that it was important to limit “black voting” in the voting booth. One tweet he posted showed a photo of a black woman with a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to “step over the line” and “vote from home,” court papers said.
Using social media pitches, one image promoting the fake vote used the same font used by the Clinton campaign in the original ad, prosecutors said. Others tried to copy Clinton’s ads in other ways, he added.
By Election Day in 2016, at least 4,900 unique phone numbers texting “Hillary” or similar text numbers were distributed by various deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
Twitter said it was cooperating with the appropriate authorities on the matter.