A white supremacist from Florida who felt threatened by an African American man announcing his candidacy for city council has pleaded guilty to cyber-stalking and interfering with an election.
Daniel McMahon admitted to using social media platform Gab to threaten a man identified in court as D.G. after learning in January 2019 that D.G. planned to announce his candidacy for Charlottesville City Council in Virginia.
Hiding behind fake online pseudonyms “Jack Corbin,” “Pale Horse,” “Restore Silent Sam,” and “Dakota Stone,” cowardly McMahon posted on Gab his support for violent attacks conducted against people whose skin color differs from his own. He also posted tired old racist stereotypes and slurs in an unoriginal effort to intimidate D.G.
McMahon pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in the Western District of Virginia to one count of threatening a council candidate because of his race and the fact that he was running for office.
The 31-year-old also admitted using Facebook Messenger to cyber-stalk a female political activist described in court documents as victim 2. Classless act McMahon threatened to sexually assault her daughter—a minor with autism—because victim 2 had taken action to counter white nationalist rallies in her community.
The defendant admitted that over a 12-day period he sent victim 2 a stream of messages in which he threatened her and her daughter and tried to extort information from victim 2 regarding other activists.
In a revealing glimpse into his squalid character, McMahon admitted around the same time that he sent these messages, he used the internet to search for content relating to sexual contact with girls who have autism.
McMahon will be sentenced on July 23, 2020. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison for threatening D.G. and five years in prison for cyber-stalking Victim 2.
“Although the First Amendment protects, without qualification, an individual’s right to hold and express abhorrent political views, it does not license threats of violence,” said US Attorney Thomas T. Cullen for the Western District of Virginia.
“The Department of Justice is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who weaponize social media to harm others.”