LIVE FROM CES 2018, LAS VEGAS: Gary Shapiro (pictured, right), head of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), spoke out against threats which prevented Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai from attending CES this year.

During a regulatory chat with acting Federal Trade Commission chair Maureen Ohlhausen, Shapiro acknowledged net neutrality is a complicated issue but insisted throwing “threats and violence into the equation is not the American way”. Pai was originally scheduled to appear alongside Ohlhausen during the chat, but cancelled last week after he reportedly received death threats.

“Ajit Pai is one of the finest people, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and he has faced the most horrible situation involving…personal threats to his wife and kids and at his home. The guy’s a government servant, not the President of the United States with a full White House [security] detail and gates around his house.”

Shapiro added that following CES, CTA is planning to take a “strong position” in support of government officials who are “just trying to do their jobs.”