The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday overturned the conviction of Douglass Mackey, the Trump-supporting internet troll who was prosecuted for posting satirical memes targeting Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Mackey, who went by the handle “Ricky Vaughn” during the 2016 election cycle, had posted humorous memes urging Hillary Clinton’s supporters to “avoid the line and vote from home” by texting “Hillary” to a certain number.
Biden-era prosecutors argued that Mackey’s memes were part of a “coordinated scheme to suppress votes,” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 241, a law dating back to Reconstruction.
On March 31, 2023, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Mackey guilty of “Conspiracy Against Rights” in a “scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.”
“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,” stated then- United States Attorney Breon Peace at the time. “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.”
Mackey faced a maximum of 10 years in prison for his role in the so-called “conspiracy.”
He was ultimately sentenced to seven months in prison in October 2023.
Tucker Carlson at the time called the verdict against Mackey “the most shocking attack on freedom of speech in our lifetimes,” pointing out that there was no evidence anyone’s “sacred right” to vote was impinged by Mackey retweeting a meme.
On Wednesday, the Appeals Court ruled that the government failed to prove that Mackey knowingly joined a conspiracy, a requirement under 18 U.S.C. § 241.
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Mackey celebrated the ruling as an affirmation of First Amendment protections and a rebuke of the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice system to target political opponents.
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