Right-wing influencer's conviction for trying to trick Black voters thrown out
A right-wing social media influencer who was sentenced to seven months in federal prison for trying to trick Black and Brown Americans out of voting in the 2016 presidential election has been exonerated.
Douglass Mackey, who went by the online persona of "Ricky Vaughn," wrote in all caps on X Wednesday, "The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has thrown out my conviction for lack of evidence. The case has ben remanded to the district court with orders to immediately dismiss."
Mackey was convicted of election interference after tweeting in Nov. 2016 about "limiting black turnout," then posting an image "that featured an African American woman standing in front of an 'African Americans for Hillary' sign," according to the DOJ indictment. "The image included the following text: 'Avoid the Line. Vote from Home. Text 'Hillary' to 59925. Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.'"
A second image Mackey tweeted shortly thereafter depicted "a woman seated at a conference room typing a message on her cell phone. This deceptive image was written in Spanish and mimicked a font used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads. The image also included a copy of the Clinton campaign’s logo and the 'ImWithHer' hashtag," according to the DOJ under Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Mackey's prison sentence was suspended in 2023 pending appeal.
In its decision, the appeals court wrote, "the mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough, standing alone, to prove a violation of Section 241. The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective."
Mackey also posted Wednesday, "Now we sue," and "I can finally get my guns back."