Episode 227: The Posting to Prison Pipeline feat Michael Edison Hayden
Added 2023-04-15 04:22:51 +0000 UTCUsually, telling lies on the internet is Constitutionally protected.
But what happens when it’s not? What happens when you post and meme so hard and so maliciously that you go far outside the realm of protected speech and wind up in a federal prison. That’s the story of a 33-year-old man named Douglass Mackey, who operated a few Twitter accounts under the name Rickey Vaughn. Using these accounts he spread Pizzagate lies, racist tropes, and also messages deliberately designed to mislead people into giving up their right to vote. On May 31st, Douglass Mackey was convicted of Election Interference in the 2016 presidential race after a one week trial.
To better understand this case we spoke to someone who has been covering it for years: Michael Edison Hayden from the Southern Poverty Law Center. We chat about Douglass Mackey’s background, the crime he was found guilty of committing, and what it means for the future of online disinformation campaigns. We also discuss the trial’s involvement of “Microchip,” a notorious troll who is currently working as a federal informant.
Michael Edison Hayden: https://twitter.com/MichaelEHayden
QAA's Website: https://qanonanonymous.com
Editing by Corey Klotz.
Comments
It’s nice to hear more of Travis.
Miss Behavior
2023-04-18 14:36:02 +0000 UTCI agree, I was pretty uncomfortable having to listen to that.
Rinsuu
2023-04-18 02:57:06 +0000 UTCLmao, holy shit. I never saw the WarZone movie, but I think that I have to now.
Jeff Grey
2023-04-18 01:22:52 +0000 UTCEnnis has serious issues with trying to be too edge-lordy, but the man is amazing at characterization. There has rarely been a comic written by him that I felt like I wasted my time on.
Jeff Grey
2023-04-18 01:22:22 +0000 UTCI had this same thought! Might be worth mention that Newman from Seinfeld played him in the absurd Punisher WarZone film.
Diary of Doom
2023-04-17 22:47:24 +0000 UTCListen to that clip of Tucker Carlson at 50% speed and it's very funny.
Paul Farra
2023-04-17 17:31:31 +0000 UTCGarth Ennis is quite talented at writing angry self destructive men. There are punisher stories not written by him that are also fine, but I prefer Ennis depiction of him. No super heroe shenanigans, very minimal sidekicks. And imagine wanting to be the sidekick. Shaking my head.
Josep C.
2023-04-17 16:09:17 +0000 UTCReally weird and bad for the guest to fixate so much on Microchip's body/appearance :/
2023-04-17 15:45:41 +0000 UTCFor Ginny Thomas, I feel it might be a coping mechanism. On some level she probably KNOWS they are the evil elite fucking over the world, does not like it, so invent a new higher level of evil manipulator to clear her conscience…
2023-04-17 14:07:48 +0000 UTCI don't think the fascist turn of the right and the Republican party is equal in hyperbole to the "good vs evil" crap coming from the right. One is a real thing that is happening and is actually a threat and the other is a made up fantasy.
Peter K
2023-04-17 03:43:08 +0000 UTCObsessed w Jake’s Grandpa
Shivvy
2023-04-17 02:47:07 +0000 UTCSo as an old nerd, did Microchip name himself after the Punisher character? I think Marvel stopped using him much a long time ago now, but Microchip was like a sidekick character where he was some tech-wiz that The Punisher saves from some criminals, and so he starts tagging along to help with gadgetry, hacking, surveillance, etc. Does seem like a way that geeky person would try to present himself as someone that was going to use his nerd powers to help kill people. The informant thing would also be ironic. The very good Marvel Max self-contained series made by Garth Ennis in the 00's starts with a story where some CIA agents try to entrap The Punisher and then recruit him to become their private terrorist-hunter. The version of Microchip in that story betrays Punisher to the CIA and gets killed for it.
Jeff Grey
2023-04-17 00:51:06 +0000 UTCHow many morons actually tried to vote by text?
aarinsanity
2023-04-16 18:44:31 +0000 UTCAfter the episode I went to dO mY oWn ReSeArCh and it eventually led to photos of Mackey and oboy does he have a punchable face.
Adam Swinson
2023-04-16 17:53:30 +0000 UTCLoved this episode! Also Dr. Crow was from an earlier episode. I had changed my discord name to it for a while —I’m ok with it not being that anymore.
Melazond
2023-04-15 21:49:02 +0000 UTC
