David Kaufman, a/k/a “David Khalifa,” a/k/a “John Morray,” a/k/a “Big Man,” pleads guilty to stalking multiple victims between October 2019 and August 2020. David Kaufman self-identifies as a member of the “Incels,” or the “Involuntary Celibate,” which refers to a group of individuals, typically heterosexual, white males, who adhere to a violent and misogynist ideology of male supremacy.
Incels believe they are entitled to sex with women and to women’s bodies, and they blame women for refusing to have sex with them. Incels have an active online community and over the last seven years, Incels also have committed acts of violence against women across the world, including in the United States. For example, in 2014, a self-proclaimed Incel named Elliot Rodger declared a “War on Women” and killed six people and injured 14 others near a college campus in California. Prior to these attacks, Rodger posted a video manifesto online, in which he explained that he planned his attack to punish women for rejecting him and for depriving him of sex, and to punish sexually active men because he envied them.
Beginning in or about October 2019, David Kaufman sent two victims (“Victim-1” and “Victim-2”), among others, violent and threatening messages using various social media accounts. In these messages, Kaufman self-identified as an Incel and expressed his hatred of women. For example:
- On or about June 24, 2020, Kaufman sent the following message to Victim-1: “Hey wanna hear a joke? What’s worse than 10 Stacy’s nailed to one tree? One Stacy nailed to ten trees [laughing crying face emoji].” “Stacy” is an Incel term that refers to an attractive female who rejects or refuses to have sex with an Incel, is hated by Incels, and is targeted by Incels for harassment, vitriol, humiliation, and violence.
- On or about June 29, 2020, Kaufman sent a series of messages to Victim-2. These messages included an image of one of Elliot Rodger’s victims, a deceased female who had been stabbed to death, accompanied by the following message: “This is what happened when a woman said ‘no’ to Elliot Rodger… Hopefully [Victim-1] never said no to someone just like Elliot Rodger.”
- In or about July 2020, Kaufman posted the following messages: “Don’t piss off BIG MAN” and “When [Victim-1] and I are dead, we’ll be in heaven together forever.”
- On or about July 11, 2020, Kaufman sent the following message to Victim-1: “Women have done nothing but spit in my face. Soon I’ll be getting a gun.”
- On or about July 12, 2020, Kaufman posted the following messages: “A beautiful environment is the darkest hell, if you have to experience it all alone . . . –Elliot Rodger” and “I don’t think [Victim-1] will be laughing too much later on.”
Kaufman also created social media accounts using the first and last names of Victim-1 and Victim-2, respectively, and impersonated Victim-1 and Victim-2 online.
In the summer of 2020, law enforcement officers approached Kaufman and told him to stop harassing Victim-1 and Victim-2. On or about July 14, 2020, an order of protection was issued in Westchester County ordering Kaufman to, among other things, refrain from communication or any other contact with Victim-1 or Victim-2.
Notwithstanding the order of protection and warnings by law enforcement, Kaufman continued to send harassing and threatening messages to Victim-1 and Victim-2 through in or about August 2020. On or about August 16, 2020, Kaufman posted a picture of himself licking a photograph of Victim-1. Kaufman also conducted online surveillance of Victim-1’s residence and researched how to illegally purchase a gun and assemble a semi-automatic rifle.
Kaufman, 27, of Peekskill, New York, pled guilty to one count of stalking, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2261A(2)(a) and 2261(b)(6), which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The statutory minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. Kaufman is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Román on March 16, 2022, at 2:00 p.m.
