A California man who was allegedly upset about the repeal of net neutrality was arrested today on charges of threatening to kill the family of Ajit Pai, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Markara Man, 33, is accused of sending three menacing emails to Chairman Pai’s email accounts, according to a DOJ press release. In the first email, Man allegedly accused Pai of being responsible for a child’s suicide because of the repeal of net neutrality. In the second email, he allegedly threatened to kill Pai’s family, listing three Arlington locales. The third email had no message, but showed an image of Chairman Pai with a blurry framed photograph of Chairman Pai and his family in the foreground.
FBI investigators were able to trace the emails to Man’s residence in Norwalk, California. When asked about the emails in May 2018, “Man admitted to the FBI that he sent the email threatening Chairman Pai’s family because he was ‘angry’ about the repeal of the net neutrality regulations and wanted to ‘scare’ Chairman Pai,” the press release said.
Man has been charged with “threatening to murder a member of the immediate family of a U.S. official with the intent to intimidate or interfere with such official while engaged in the performance of official duties, or with the intent to retaliate against such official on account of the performance of official duties.”
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison if convicted. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Berrang will be prosecuting the case, according to the press release.
Ajit Pai has been a particular bete noir of the left since his ascension to FCC chairmanship.
Late-night comedian John Oliver last year rallied his viewers to flood the FCC with calls and comments defending net neutrality, and compared Pai to a serial killer: “When the Code of Federal Regulations looks out its window at night, there’s just Ajit Pai, standing silently, holding his weed whacker, waiting for his chance,” he said.
Professional net-neutrality activists invaded Pai’s neighborhood in May of 2017 to distribute door hangers resembling “wanted posters” to his neighbors. The flyers featured a black-and-white photo of Pai with the words “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?” written above the photo. Pai talked about the stunt on Matt Lewis’ radio show, dismissing the activists as “sort of annoying” while noting that they did “scare his children a little bit.”
Last December, leftists doxed Pai on Facebook and encouraged passionate net neutrality supporters to defecate on his lawn.
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