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NEW YORK (AP) – A self-styled far-right propagandist was arrested in Florida on Wednesday for using social media to try to suppress Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s votes in the 2016 presidential election, announced Wednesday federal prosecutors.
A criminal complaint accused Douglass Mackey, 31, – known on the internet as “Ricky Vaughn” – of anonymously conspiring with others in late 2016 to use Twitter and other social media to try to trick Clinton supporters into voting by text instead of casting a ballot.
The alleged scheme “represented nothing less than vote theft,” said William Sweeney, chief of the FBI bureau in New York, where the charges were laid. “This is illegal behavior that contributes to the erosion of public confidence in our electoral processes.”
Mackey is expected to be released on $ 50,000 bail after an initial court appearance in West Palm Beach, prosecutors have said. A message requesting comment was left for his defense attorney.
At the time of the alleged fraud, Mackey had 58,000 Twitter followers and was considered a “major influencer” in the upcoming election won by former President Donald Trump, prosecutors said. He had described himself as an “American nationalist” who regularly retweeted Trump and promoted conspiracy theories of electoral fraud by Democrats.
The lawsuit accused Mackey of working with four anonymous co-conspirators to spread disinformation that people could vote for Clinton by posting a specific hashtag on Twitter or Facebook, or by sending Clinton’s name to a fake text code . A tweet he sent showed a photo of a black woman with a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to “avoid the line” and “vote from home,” he said.
Prosecutors said records show the message was retweeted 175 times and that there were at least 4,900 responses from phone numbers using the fake text code, including some people in New York City.
In October 2016, Twitter suspended Mackey’s account for “participating in targeted abuse,” according to court documents. Using another social messaging network, he wrote, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back on Twitter soon” and used an associate to create another account, according to the newspapers.
Twitter has been working “closely with the relevant authorities on the matter,” the company said in a statement.
If convicted of conspiracy charges, Mackey could face up to 10 years in prison.
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Associated Press editor Amanda Seitz contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to show that the spelling of Mackey’s first name is Douglass, not Douglas.
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