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Douglass Mackey, a pro-Trump troll, was convicted by the Brooklyn jury on Friday, March 31, 2023. He allegedly plotted to trick voters out of casting a ballot during the 2016 presidential election.
Douglass' case sought to address the issue of internet disinformation in the 2016 election. It soon rose to the level of a crime and has been closely watched by anti-extremist groups, right-wing politicians, and pundits.
Reportedly, Douglass Mackey didn't react much when the verdict was read out loud at the Brooklyn Federal Court. However, his father, who was seated in the gallery, seemed to heave a sigh.
Andrew Frisch, Mackey's lawyer, said that an appeal is likely and added that they are optimistic about their chances of the appeal. He said that the trial was just the first chapter of litigation in the case. Frisch even said that while they would have preferred to win, they are confident about the way forward.
Douglass Mackey's post led to him landing in federal court before Judge Ann M. Donnelly after a one-week trial. The court date is set to be August 16 for the sentencing of Mackey.
Mackey, a 33-year-old influencer from West Palm Beach, gained fame online under the pseudo-name "Ricky Vaughn" on Twitter. He posted two images that allegedly looked like fake Hillary Clinton ads that told people they could vote by text instead of going in person to the ballot.
Douglass Mackey was charged with withholding the right to vote from numerous individuals
In 2016, Mackey had nearly 58,000 followers on Twitter and was ranked as the 107th most important influencer before the 2016 election by MIT Media Labs. He allegedly described himself as an "America nationalist" and regularly retweeted former President Donald Trump's posts. Mackey even promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud by Democrats.
Douglass Mackey created several memes of fake endorsements of then-candidate Donald Trump with celebrities like Lana del Ray, Justin Bieber, and Ariana Grande. They were all usually edited to make it look like they were wearing "MAGA" hats.
Prosecutors, however, said that Douglass Mackey crossed the line when he posted images asking Hillary Clinton voters, mainly black women, to "avoid the line" of polling stations.
He encouraged them to text the word "Hillary" to a five-digit number which led to a real line. Thousands of followers texted the digits but did not immediately receive any error messages.
The Department of Justice seemed to agree that most of Mackey's trolls were before the election and protected by the First Amendment speech.
Soon after President Joe Biden's inauguration, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn went against Mackey's ruling. They claimed that it wasn't free speech but election interference.
Arrested in January 2021, Douglass Mackey could face up to 10 years in prison. His sentencing court is set for August 16, 2023.
It was soon released by U.S. Attorney Breon Peace that the jury rejected Mackey's cynical attempt to use free speech protections. He allegedly shielded himself from criminal liability of any sort for a voter suppression scheme.
Peace said:
“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election."
He added that the verdict proves that Mackey's actions were in the territory of criminal acts. Peace noted that the verdict rejects Mackey's attempt to use the right to free speech as a shield for his scheme to "subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote.”
The government alleged that from September 2016 to November 2016, Mackey conspired with several social media influencers to spread fraudulent messages and images to Clinton supporters.
Prosecutors also mentioned that Douglass Mackey urged supporters of Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media, fully knowing that they were not legally valid votes.
Prosecutors also said that Douglass Mackey was sharing tweets that suggested it was important to limit "black turnout" at the voting booths for the election. One tweet he sent showed a photograph of a black woman with a Hillary Clinton campaign sign. The sign encouraged voters to "avoid the line" and "vote from home," according to court papers.
According to records, by Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers have texted "Hillary" to a phone number popularized by multiple deceptive campaign images. The images included phony votes utilized in a font similar to the authentic ad campaigns run by Hillary Clinton.
Other users tried to mimic Clinton's ads in various other ways, said the prosecutors. The images were pushed forward by Mackey and co-conspirators on Twitter. One of the image's fine prints had deceptive language that made it sound official and legal.
Twitter reportedly worked closely alongside the appropriate authorities to come to a conclusion on the case.
