*The FCC has fined a Montana man $9.9 million for making thousands of racist and threatening robocalls.
Scott Rhodes, 51, reportedly targeted Black and Jewish politicians, as well as a murder victim’s family, and attempted to influence a jury in a murder case against a neo-Nazi, per Business Insider India.Â
Rhodes reportedly used an online platform to manipulate caller ID so the calls, made from different states in 2018, appeared to be from local numbers. The reportedly used a technique known as “neighbor spoofing.”Â
READ MORE:Â Stacey Abrams, Oprah Winfrey Targets of Racist Robocall Funded by Neo-Nazi Group [LISTEN]
“The law is clear: Spoofed caller ID robocalls used with the intent to defraud, cause harm, or cheat recipients is unlawful. And the American people are sick and tired of it,” Ajit Pai, the FCC chairman at the time, said in the January 14 announcement of the fine.
“In this instance, not only were the calls unlawful, but the caller took them to new levels of egregiousness,” Pai said.
Here’s more from BI via MSN:
- In one anti-Semitic robocall campaign targeting Californians, Rhodes encouraged people to vote for a Senate candidate in order “to rid America of the traitorous Jews,” naming Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.
- Other calls made to Georgians impersonated Oprah Winfrey to target then-gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. “This is the magical negro, Oprah Winfrey, asking you to make my fellow negress, Stacey Abrams, the governor of Georgia,” the call said.
- Another set of racist calls in Florida targeted Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee at the time and the state’s first Black gubernatorial candidate.
The FCC has given Rhodes 30 days to pay the fine, or else the case could be referred to the Department of Justice.
In response to heafty fine, Rhodes said it was a “politically motivated gross overreach of FCC authority.”
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