Florida man sentenced for racially-motivated crimes
By a Biometrica staffer
Daniel McMahon, a resident of Florida, was sentenced to more than 3 years in prison for two separate racially-motivated crimes, the US Department of Justice said in a statement. The first of the two involve him threatening an African-American Charlottesville City Council candidate over his race, and the second involves cyberstalking a separate victim on Facebook messenger for countering white nationalist rallies.
On April 30, McMahon pleaded guilty to one count of racially-motivated threats to interfere with an election, and one count of cyberstalking. At the plea hearing, he admitted that he uses the online pseudonyms “Jack Corbin,” “Pale Horse,” “Restore Silent Sam,” and “Dakota Stone,” to promote white supremacy and white nationalist ideology, and to express support for racially-motivated violence.
After learning that D.G. planned to announce his candidacy for the city council, the defendant used his Jack Corbin account on social media platform Gab to threaten violence against him based on his race and the fact that he was running for office, McMahon admitted in January 2019. Although the DoJ statement only identifies the victim as “D.G.,” media reports from September 2019 – when McMahon was arrested – mention the victim’s full name.
McMahon admitted that his posts used racial slurs and invoked long-standing racial stereotypes, and that he intended for D.G. to understand his posts as threats to his safety.
“Americans have the right to run for office in this country without facing racially-bigoted threats of violence. Furthermore, no American should have to live with hateful threats of sexual violence for opposing white nationalism. The Justice Department will continue vigorously to prosecute anyone who attempts to infringe on these civil rights and thereby undermine our democracy.” Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband for the Civil Rights Division.
Separately, he admitted to using his “Restore Silent Sam” Facebook account to cyberstalk a person identified in court documents as Victim 2. In connection with this charge, McMahon admitted he used Facebook to send her numerous intimidating and threatening messages, which placed Victim 2 in reasonable fear of harm to her minor child, who has autism. The defendant acknowledged that Victim 2 has been active in countering white nationalist rallies in her community.
McMahon also admitted that because of Victim 2’s activism, he began an online campaign to intimidate her and to extort information from her about her fellow activists. This included sending her numerous messages over the course of 12 days in which he threatened to sexually assault her minor daughter.
At around the same time when he sent those messages, McMahon also used the internet to conduct searches relating to sexual contact with girls who have autism. His messages reasonably caused Victim 2 serious emotional distress and fear for her child’s safety.
“The FBI applauds the sentencing in this case and remains steadfast in its commitment to protecting the civil rights of all Americans. We also commend the courage of the victims who come forward to report these threats.” Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey of the FBI’s Richmond Division Following his term of incarceration, McMahon will be placed on three years of supervised release, during which time he will be prohibited from using internet-capable devices without prior court approval.