Suspect Declared a Fugitive in Cyberspace Hate Crime Case

A former UC Irvine student was declared a fugitive Monday when he failed to show up for his arraignment in the nation’s first federal prosecution of hate crimes allegedly committed in cyberspace.

A federal magistrate issued an arrest warrant for 19-year-old Richard Machado of Irvine, who is facing 10 counts of civil rights violations for allegedly sending an anonymous computer message threatening to “hunt . . . down and kill” Asians on campus. About 60 students received the Sept. 20 message.

Machado’s failure to appear for the arraignment adds an unexpected twist to an unusual case, among only a few prosecutions involving alleged cyberspace crimes and the first with hate as a motive, prosecutors said. College campuses have been at the center of a debate involving censorship of their computer networks.

Machado was scheduled to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elgin Edwards, but authorities said the defendant stole his roommate’s car and apparently fled Southern California last week after learning that he faced up to two years in prison if he is convicted on the misdemeanor counts.