An internet troll who harassed a black student from American University on social media with racist messages agreed to a court settlement on Tuesday.
According to the settlement, the troll must complete “anti-hate training,” apologize in writing and on video, and publicly renounce white supremacy, reports The News Tribune.
The lawsuit was filed in April by Taylor Dumpson against Andrew Anglin, a neo-Nazi website publisher for organizing an online harassment campaign. He is involved in two other federal lawsuits for his racist and anti-Semitic trolling campaigns.
Dumpson claimed that Anglin directed the readers on his site, The Daily Stormer, to cyberbully her after she became American University’s first black student government president in May 2017.
Dumpson also sued Evan James McCarty and Brian Ade for harassing her online.
McCarty is the only one of the three accused men who is involved in this settlement.
In response to Dumpson’s new roll in student government, bananas were hung from a string in a noose shape around campus. The school did not find anyone to be responsible for the hate crime and University President Silvia Burwell said, “all credible leads have been exhausted.”
Days later, McCarty tweeted “READY THE TROOPS,” with a picture of a banana. He was tweeting under the screen name “Byron de la Vandal,” likely referencing nationalist Byron de la Beckwith, who assassinated a civil rights leader in 1963, according to The Eagle.
McCarty agreed to apologize directly to Dumpson in a video call that can be recorded and shown publicly for civil rights advocacy. He will also complete 200 hours of community service to promote racial justice and attend anti-hate training for one year.
McCarty’s parents say their son was being “persuaded into hateful activity on the internet.”
“Evan, our son, feels deep regret about his actions and is committed to making changes and moving forward in a positive way,” they said. “At this time, he is focused on continuing to make progress, pursuing his degree, contributing to his community and committed to making amends.”
Dumpson and her attorneys hope the settlement will send a strong message to white supremacists across the country and that they will be held accountable for their behavior in the future.