NEW YORK (AP) – A self-proclaimed far-right propagandist was arrested in Florida on Wednesday on charges that he used social media to try to suppress votes for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
A criminal complaint accused 31-year-old Douglass Mackey – known on the internet as ‘Ricky Vaughn’ – of anonymously conspiring with others in late 2016 to use Twitter and other social media to trick Clinton supporters into voting via text instead of to cast an actual vote.
The alleged plan “amounted to vote theft,” said William Sweeney, chief of the FBI office in New York City, where the charges were filed. “It is illegal behavior and contributes to eroding public confidence in our electoral processes.”
Mackey was expected to be released on a $ 50,000 bond after an initial appearance in court in West Palm Beach, prosecutors said. A message asking for comment was left with his attorney.
At the time of the alleged fraud, Mackey had 58,000 followers on Twitter 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 about Democratic voter fraud.
The complaint accused Mackey of collaborating with four unnamed co-conspirators to spread disinformation, alleging that people could vote for Clinton by posting a specific hashtag on Twitter or Facebook, or by converting Clinton’s name to a fake text code. texting. A tweet he sent showed a photo of a black woman holding a Clinton campaign sign, encouraging people to “avoid the queue” and “vote from home,” it said.
Prosecutors said the records show that the message was retweeted 175 times and there were at least 4,900 responses from phone numbers with the false text code, including some from people in New York.
In October 2016, Twitter suspended Mackey’s account for “participating in targeted abuse,” court papers said. Using another social messaging network, he wrote, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back to twitter soon,” and used an employee to create another account, the papers said.
Twitter worked closely with the relevant authorities on the matter, the company said in a statement.
If convicted of conspiracy, Mackey could face up to 10 years in prison.
___
Amanda Seitz, Associated Press author, contributed to this report.
___
This story has been corrected to show that the spelling of Mackey’s first name is Douglass, not Douglas.