San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Victim of racist ‘troll storm’ wins legal settlement
An African American student leader who was targeted by a racist “troll storm” says she hopes an unusual legal settlement with one of her harassers will send a strong message to white supremacists that they will be held responsible for online abuse. Taylor Dumpson had sued Evan James McCarty of Eugene, Ore., and two other defendants, including the publisher of the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer, after she was viciously harassed online. As part of the settlement, filed this past week, McCarty has agreed to apologize, renounce white supremacy, undergo counseling and help civil rights groups fight hate and bigotry.
“People that decide to participate in this kind of activity, they should know that they’re going to be held accountable,” Dumpson said Friday.
She added that the settlement gave her a sense of closure, and that she was proud that important educational and advocacy work would result from it. She called it a “unique opportunity” rooted in the principles of restorative justice, which focuses on rehabilitating offenders through reconciliation with victims.
“I’m using what was a traumatic experience for me to help promote racial justice,” she said.
Dumpson, now 22, was singled out after she became the first black woman to serve as American University’s student body president in May 2017. The same day, bananas hanging from nooses were found around the campus.
After news outlets reported on the nooses, Andrew Anglin, who runs the Daily Stormer, posted Dumpson’s picture and personal information online and exhorted his followers to harass and bully her, a tactic he has also employed against Jewish and Muslim targets.
One of the people who heeded his call was McCarty, also now 22, a student and actor who had been leading a secret life online, posting hateful messages and songs under the alias “Byron De La Vandal,” a reference to Byron De La Beckwith, the Ku Klux Klan member who assassinated civil rights leader Medgar Evers. He was identified as McCarty by an anti-fascist group in April.
The lawsuit stated that Dumpson constantly feared for her safety amid the relentless harassment, and was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite that turmoil, she graduated from American University and is now enrolled in law school.
As part of the settlement, McCarty agreed to assist Dumpson in her legal efforts against his two co-defendants, Anglin and Brian Andrew Ade.
Karen Zraick is a New York Times writer.