Social Media Influencer Charged with Election Interference

<i>For example, on Nov. 1, 2016, Mackey allegedly tweeted an image that featured an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for [the Candidate]” sign. The image included the following text: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home. Text ‘[Candidate’s first name]’ to 59925[.] Vote for [the Candidate] and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the 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 [Candidate] for President 2016.”</i><p>that seems reasonably open-and-shut &quot;very naughty, no, bad, don&#x27;t do that!&quot;

The meme in question: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;squid_o_the_day&#x2F;status&#x2F;1354489727831969794" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;squid_o_the_day&#x2F;status&#x2F;13544897278319697...</a>

The announcement is dated: Wednesday, January 27, 2021 (today)<p>&gt; Douglass Mackey, aka Ricky Vaughn, 31, of West Palm Beach, was charged by criminal complaint in the Eastern District of New York. He was taken into custody this morning<p>So he was taken into custody this morning. (today)<p>&gt; As alleged in the complaint, between September 2016 and November 2016, in the lead up to the Nov. 8, 2016, U.S. Presidential Election, Mackey conspired with others to . . .<p>They&#x27;re only now dealing with something that happened over four years ago?<p>Am I missing something?

One note of context: Ricky Vaughan (this persons alias) was the name of Charlie sheens rebellious character in Major League.

A leftwing &quot;comedian&quot; did the same thing, directed at Trump voters:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;mskristinawong&#x2F;status&#x2F;795999059987173377" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;mskristinawong&#x2F;status&#x2F;795999059987173377</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;JDJGa" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;archive.is&#x2F;JDJGa</a><p>When is the FBI coming for her?<p>And where are the &quot;it&#x27;s a private company&quot; censorship apologists now? The slope is slippery after all.

Is everyone else thinking what I&#x27;m thinking? Did Trump suppress this investigation for 4 years?

I love that the filing begins with &quot;A Florida man was arrested this morning...&quot;<p>Florida Man strikes again!

What exactly is the code or law that is being broken here?<p>Don&#x27;t get me wrong - guys like this should be shutdown. By who is altogether another debate.<p>The govt rarely loses when they bring cases like this - so they probably think they have a pretty airtight case. Any background or clarification would be helpful - as both the press release and complaint are scant on details.<p>EDIT: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.cornell.edu&#x2F;uscode&#x2F;text&#x2F;18&#x2F;241" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.law.cornell.edu&#x2F;uscode&#x2F;text&#x2F;18&#x2F;241</a> &lt;&lt; this says &quot;2 or more persons&quot; to be a conspiracy.