Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The SPLC’s Hatewatch reports:
Jury selection started today in the trial of 33-year-old Douglass Mackey, a man who prolifically spread hate and politically charged disinformation under the pseudonym “Ricky Vaughn” during Donald Trump’s political rise.
The DOJ charged Mackey with election interference in January 2021, accusing him of a conspiracy to spread “misinformation designed to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.” The DOJ leveled these charges in connection with a November 2016 stunt in which Mackey encouraged people to vote for Hillary Clinton by text message by disseminating an online flyer.
The online flyer Mackey distributed featured images of a Black person in front of an “African Americans for [Hillary Clinton]” sign, urging voters to text in their votes. Nearly 5,000 people fell for Mackey’s detailed ploy, according to the DOJ’s press release. An unnamed co-conspirator who operated in Mackey’s online circles in 2016 has cooperated with the investigation.
Read the full article. There’s so much more. Like recently convicted cultists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, Mackey is being charged under the Ku Klux Klan Act.
As I reported in April 2018, Mackey’s real name first surfaced when he was doxxed by neo-Nazis after a flame war on the white supremacist platform Gab.
Unsurprisingly, the usual far-right cultists are deluging Twitter today with messages of support and outrage.
Jack “Pizzagate” Posobiec, who earlier this month was featured at CPAC, is pushing Mackey’s money beg.
Mackey would prefer crypto donations but there’s also a drive on the Christian site, GiveSendGo, which at this writing has brought in just $8725.
New: Jury selection is underway in the trial of Douglass “Ricky Vaughn” Mackey — who stands accused of targeting Black voters with a scam to disenfranchise them in 2016.
The case covers new territory for our polarized, algorithm-addled era:https://t.co/KkUiqyunBV
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) March 13, 2023
Prosecutors told the judge that while Mackey’s case has received fairly limited media coverage — one particular source has focused on it intensely.
That would be Tucker Carlson, who they called out by name.
The concern is Carlson viewers would struggle to be objective.
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) March 13, 2023
The judge asked potential jurors to raise their numbers if they recognized certain names. Then among other names he said:
“Mic-ro-chip.”
“Baked A-las-ka.”
Added: “those are pseudonyms.”
I had to bite my lip not to laugh.
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) March 13, 2023
It sounds like failed white supremacist congressional candidate Paul Nehlen will testify in this trial.
None of the potential jurors recognized his name but I sure did.
This trial is like Coachella for people who posted on Gab in 2017:https://t.co/q7CIF41Sxj
— Michael Edison Hayden (@MichaelEHayden) March 13, 2023