A Georgia man has been arrested by federal authorities after making a series of angry calls to Sen. Tim Scott’s offices, at least one of which included an alleged death threat.
“Yeah he is an ignorant motherfucker, goddamn, I can’t stand that motherfucker,” said Jason Kenneth Bell of Cochran, Ga. according to federal court documents. “Saying that neo-Nazi and white people are the problem. I am going to kill that motherfucker.”
The caller has been charged with one federal count of interstate transmission of threat to injure. He identified himself in one of the approximately 10 phone voicemails he has left since Oct. 23, according to court documents.
Sen. Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican senator in office, met with President Trump on Sep. 13 regarding the racial violence in Charlottesville. Sen. Scott told Vice News that President Trump’s moral authority had been “compromised” after a press conference in which the president seemingly equated neo-Nazi and white supremacist protesters with the counter-protesters in Charlottesville.
“Bell has been the subject of several FBI threat assessments due to threatening phone calls he has made to various organizations, including the NAACP and local news stations,” according to documents.
The affidavit goes on to say that Bell admitted to making the calls but said of himself that he was “not violent and was only trying to have a conversation.”
Bell is known for leaving aggravated messages in the voice mailboxes of multiple congresspersons, according to Capitol Police. Frequent references include praise of Dylann Roof and the “untruths of black victimization.
“The Senator greatly appreciates the efforts of the Capitol Police and the FBI to keep folks safe every day,” said Sen. Scott spokesperson Michele Exner.
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