A white supremacist troll was ordered Friday to denounce racism publicly and attend "anti-hate training" for leading online attacks of a Black college student.
The victim, 22-year-old Taylor Dumpson, became the first Black woman to serve as American University's student government president in May 2017.
However, the historic achievement was met by angry white supremacists and neo-Nazis who hated her for being Black. According to The Associated Press, Eugene, Oregon, resident Evan James McCarty was part of an orchestrated online harassment campaign, directed by The Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin and Brian Andrew Ade, to harass her.
Dumpson's lawsuit against McCarty and the cadre of other racists states an incendiary article was one of the many tools they used to undermine her. In it, her location and other personal details were doxxed.
McCarty used the alias "Byron de la Vandal" to carry out Twitter attacks. The name references Byron De La Beckwith, the white terrorist who assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963.
He allegedly tweeted a photo with bananas along with the caption "ready the troops." On the day of her election, bananas with nooses were found on the college campus.
Online harassment made her fear for her life on campus, and she began to suffer post-traumatic syndrome. "It's one of the first things I think about in the morning and one of the last things I think about when I go to sleep," she told The AP.
The New York Times reports McCarty was ordered to apologize to her, renounce his white supremacist beliefs, undergo counseling and "anti-hate training" and help groups fight racism as part of his 200 hours of community service. He must apologize in writing and the form of a video, the ruling states.
McCarty's parents told The AP their son is a different person now, and they apologize for his racist actions toward her.
"Evan, our son, feels deep regret about his actions and is committed to making changes and moving forward in a positive way," his parents said in a statement. "At this time, he is focused on continuing to make progress, pursuing his degree, contributing to his community and committed to making amends."
Anglin and Ade are also facing outstanding ligation for other hateful, anti-Semitic online campaigns, The Hill reports.
“People that decide to participate in this kind of activity, they should know that they’re going to be held accountable,” Dumpson told media Friday. "I guess I was open to the idea that even the perpetrator of a racially motivated act of bias could still be more or less reformed."
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