XPost: alt.fan.states.iowa, alt.politics.immigration, alt.journalism.newspapers XPost: sac.politics

KALISPELL, Mont. — A Montana man is facing a $9.9 million fine
from the Federal Communications Commission after he sent racist,
anti-Semitic and harassing robocalls to tens of thousands of
phones across eight states.

Scott D. Rhodes' calls in 2018 targeted Black and Jewish
politicians, a journalist, an Iowa community grieving the
killing of a college student and the murder case against an
avowed white supremacist who drove into a crowd in
Charlottesville, Virginia, the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell
reported Wednesday.

Other states at least also included among the calls are Idaho,
California, Florida, Georgia, Washington and New York.

The FCC announced the fine on Jan. 14 and said Rhodes repeatedly
violated the Truth in Caller ID Act by manipulating the calls to
make them seem as if they came from local phone numbers.

Ajit Pai, who stepped down as the FCC’s chairman last week, said
the law clearly bans spoofed robocalls “used with the intent to
defraud, cause harm or cheat recipients” and that Rhodes’ calls
marked “new levels of egregiousness.”

Among many other things, the calls Rhodes sent included a
recording of Adolf Hitler and directed listeners to his podcast
where he ranted about Jews, Muslims and other people of color.
Calls also went to Charlottesville, Virginia, conveying a
baseless conspiracy theory about the death of a woman amid the
murder trial of a white supremacist who drove into a crowd in
2017.

Rhodes, 51, has been given 30 days to pay the fine. If he does
not, the FCC said it could refer the case to the Department of
Justice.

In his response to the commission’s findings, he complained of
“politically motivated gross overreach of FCC authority.”

Rhodes did not immediately return an email requesting comment
from the Daily Inter Lake on Tuesday.

https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/nation-world/montana-man- faces-99m-fine-for-racist-harassing-robocalls/507-09d48624-3c9c- 4d43-a21b-a50d7ad7ab2e
 

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