Department of Justice seeking nearly $10 million from man who allegedly made thousands of racist and anti-Semitic robocalls
CBSN
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it is seeking $9.9 million from a Montana man who has allegedly made nearly 5,000 robocalls, many of which were xenophobic, racist and threatening, to people across several states.
The massive fine was first imposed by the Federal Communications Commission on January 14. The agency said at the time that the man, 52-year-old Scott Rhodes from Libby, Montana, had targeted specific communities with "harmful pre-recorded messages" starting in 2017.
"The robocalls included xenophobic fearmongering (including to a victim's family), racist attacks on political candidates, an apparent attempt to influence the jury in a domestic terrorism case, and threatening language toward a local journalist," the FCC said in January.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.
The knock at the door came at nighttime on Mother's Day 2008 in Oregon, where Jessica Ellis' parents lived. It was around 9:20 p.m. and his wife, Linda, was already in bed; her father Steve Ellis told CBS News, that he thought someone let their animals out — but two soldiers in Class A uniforms were standing at the door.