He added that the GIF “was not meant to be a call to violence against CNN or any other news affiliation” and that “I have the highest respect for the journalist community and they put their lives on the line every day with the jobs that they do in reporting the news.”

In his telling, Solo allowed himself to be corrupted and corroded by the attention he got on Reddit, posting bigoted, violent images just “to get a reaction.” This isn’t an excuse — the person who says something racist “as a joke” (a common defense) still commits a racist act. But if Mr. Solo’s apology is genuine, then at least he’s capable of seeing that what he did was wrong, and perhaps he’s capable of changing.

It is, of course, possible that the apology was less than heartfelt. Andrew Kacyznski at CNN wrote that the network had chosen not to reveal Solo’s real name because he had shown remorse, but reserved the right to do so in the future. This prompted accusations that the network had blackmailed Solo into apologizing with the threat of exposure, which CNN denied in a statement on Wednesday.

Whatever you think of this sub-controversy, Solo wouldn’t be the first troll to apologize for his actions. His statement recalls that of the man who tormented the writer Lindy West by tweeting at her using an account named for her deceased father. After she wrote about the psychological impact of trolling, he apologized and admitted, “I think my anger towards you stems from your happiness with your own being. It offended me because it served to highlight my unhappiness with my own self.” He also donated to the cancer care facility that treated Ms. West’s father.