NY AG Sues Two White Men for Discriminatory Robocalls Discouraging Black Voters

New York’s attorney general is taking legal action against white two men who orchestrated a robocall campaign designed to scare Black Americans from voting in the 2020 elections.

In an investigation conducted by the Office of the Attorney General, Letitia James and her team found that Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman hid behind the sham organization “Project 1599” and organized thousands of robocalls to threaten and harass Black communities, violating state and federal laws, Yahoo reported.

The office said about 5,500 New Yorkers received a discriminatory robocall ahead of the election, and the harassing robocall was sent to over 85,000 phone numbers nationwide.

James is suing under the New York Civil Rights Law, the New York Executive Law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, and the Civil Rights Act of 1957, Yahoo reported. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is also investigating the pair. 

James’ action alleges the robocalls shared disinformation, including false claims that mail-in voters would have personal information given to law enforcement, debt collectors, and the government. The intent was to interfere with the 2020 election.

“In this country, our vote is our voice –– it is one of the most important parts of our democracy. Any attempt to discourage communities from voting is as illegal as it is un-American,” James said in a press release.

“Wohl and Burkman used misinformation to try to disenfranchise Black communities ahead of the election, in a clear attempt to sway the election in the favor of their preferred presidential candidate.

James said her office’s investigation found Black voters in particular were the target of the robocall campaign. 

She said, in a memo shared the day before the calls went out, Wohl emailed Burkman the audio file for the call that states:

“Hi, this is Tamika Taylor from Project 1599, the civil rights organization founded by Jack Burman and Jacob Wohl. Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts? The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines. Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay home safe and beware of vote by mail.”

In the email Wohl added, “we should send it to black neighborhoods…”

The next day the calls went out to 85,000 Americans. Burkman allegedly emailed to congratulate Wohl, saying, “I love these robocalls…getting angry black call backs…win or lose…the black robo was a great [Jacob Wohl] idea,” Yahoo reported.

The pair allegedly hired Message Communications, Inc., to send the robocalls.

The lawsuit is seeking an injunction and an order prohibiting Wohl, Burkman, Burkman & Associates, and Project 1599 from further engaging or undertaking in harassing and discriminatory voter intimidation.

James also wants Message Communications to establish policies and procedures to prevent unlawful, discriminatory, and intimidating robocalls directed at voters. The legal action asks the defendants to pay a penalty of up to $500 for each violation of the state law.

Voter intimidation is defined as an attempt to sway or prevent someone from voting by creating a physically or verbally hostile environment, and is illegal in the United States. Many other claims of voter intimidation have been put forward by voters and advocacy groups who have allegedly witnessed excessive force and other forms of intimidation designed to off-put voters. 

As a result, numerous complaints and lawsuits have been filed to help restrict voter intimidation and provide voters full access to their right to vote. Click here to read more. 

What do you think of this legal action against the robocallers? Let us know in the comments!

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