By Free Republic | Created at 2024-10-25 21:31:26 | Updated at 2024-10-25 23:27:13
2 hours ago
The Panic Over an Imaginary Militia 'Hunting FEMA' Did More Damage Than the Actual Threat
Reason via msn ^ | 25 Oct 2024 | Matthew Petti
Posted on 10/25/2024 2:25:42 PM PDT by blueplum
It was a bone-chilling report. As North Carolinians reeled from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) suddenly ordered emergency workers "to stand down and evacuate" Rutherford County due to reports of "trucks of armed militias saying they were out hunting FEMA," The Washington Post reported on October 13, based on an email obtained from the U.S. Forest Service...
The threat turned out to be something less serious. ...Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Reason has obtained the original email thread about the threat. Forest Service firefighting official Gordy Sachs, quoting a message from FEMA, did indeed write to other officials on October 12 that "Title 10 troops had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA." ...
After Parsons' arrest was publicized, the Post updated its story to focus on his alleged threat, and removed the phrase "armed militia" from the headline. As it turns out, U.S. soldiers had called in the threat—after hearing about it secondhand from a gas station cashier....But other news outlets had already start to run with the story...."Trump's Hurricane Lies Spark Terrifying Threat," The New Republic stated, blaming former president Donald Trump.... The Guardian reported that the "politicization" of the hurricane relief effort "has provided a recruitment opportunity for white supremacist groups"... The Daily Beast featured a photo of an actual militia...
Reason did witness a militia-like operation near Asheville—but rather than attacking relief workers, the "redneck air force" was cooperating with authorities to run helicopter flights to isolated towns...
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: fema; helene; huricane; militias; northcarolina; psyops; racism
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to set the record straight: , [William Jacob] "Parsons told the BBC that he was not a member of any militia, he had not threatened any federal officials, and he was there to help distribute supplies to hurricane victims."
1 posted on 10/25/2024 2:25:42 PM PDT by blueplum
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