The so-called “justice system” is working overtime to take down not just Donald Trump, but any “MAGA Republicans,” as Joe Biden frequently refers to conservative citizens as, who support him.
In what seems to be a concerted effort to silence the opposition to Democrat’s agenda, America’s legal institutions have seemingly been weaponized to silence citizens and instill fear by convicting and incarcerating anyone who dares to practice their First Amendment right, or generally does anything that the left deems inappropriate.
Just one day after former president Donald Trump was indicted on the weakest of charges relating to alleged “hush money” given to former “porn star” Stormy Daniels, Biden’s Department of Justice convicted a so-called “far-right” social media influencer with a flimsy charge of simply posting memes about former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
A federal jury in Brooklyn has found Douglass Mackey, aka “Ricky Vaughn,” guilty of Conspiracy Against Rights for his role in a “disinformation campaign.” During the 2016 election, Mackey was known for making memes targeting Democrats. His conviction came at the conclusion of just a one-week long trial, which didn’t take place in his home state where the alleged crime took place.
Mackey, 33, of West Palm Beach, Florida, became popular on Twitter in that election year, with around 58,000 followers. He was ranked as the 107th most influential person in the upcoming Presidential Election by the MIT Media Lab in 2016.
According to Politico, Mackey had described himself as an “American nationalist” who regularly retweeted Trump and promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud by Democrats. He was originally arrested in January 2021 and is set to be sentenced on August 16. 2023. He faces up to ten years in prison.
His lawyer, Andrew Frisch, said in an email that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan will have multiple reasons to choose from to vacate the conviction, according to Politico’s report.
“We are optimistic about our chances on appeal,” Frisch said.
U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a release that Mackey failed in his attempt to use the First Amendment protections to shield himself from criminal liability for a voter suppression scheme
“Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote,” he 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,” Attorney Peace claimed.
The press release by the Department of Justice reads in part:
As proven at trial, between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which, in reality, was legally invalid. For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.” The tweet included the typed hashtag “#ImWithHer,” a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators.
Politico has more on what led up to this monumental “meme” conviction:
Prosecutors told jurors during the trial that Mackey urged supporters of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media, knowing that those endorsements were not legally valid votes.
At about the same time, prosecutors said, he was sending tweets suggesting that it was important to limit “black turnout” at voting booths. One 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,” court papers said.
Using social media pitches, one image encouraging phony votes utilized a font similar to one used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads, prosecutors said. Others tried to mimic Clinton’s ads in other ways, they added.
By Election Day in 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or something similar to a text number that was spread by multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
Rephrased from: The Republic Brief By: Trump Knows
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