An armed North Carolina man was arrested after allegedly making comments about “potentially harming FEMA workers” involved in the state's hurricane relief efforts, authorities said.
William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested Saturday after the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office received a call that the caller saw Parsons making threatening comments about Federal Emergency Management Agency responders in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, it said. the sheriff's office in a news release.
The initial report was made by a deputy who was part of the hurricane response in the area, said a sheriff's office representative, who said the deputy saw the man making threats at a store in Rutherford County.
The sheriff's office said its deputies arrested Parsons, who it said had a gun and a rifle at the time of his arrest, after investigating and receiving a second tip. The sheriff's office said he was charged with “attempted involvement in armed mob violence.” He posted a $10,000 secured bond on the misdemeanor charge and was released later in the day.
Parsons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FEMA said it “made operational adjustments” in the area after reports of threats against its hurricane response teams. FEMA's response to the area has been the subject of widespread misinformation and conspiracy theories, for example false claim that the federal government plans to “demolish and expropriate” Chimney Rock
The Washington Post reported that That Saturday, a U.S. Forest Service official sent out an alert saying “FEMA has advised all federal crews in Rutherford County, NC, to evacuate the county immediately. The message said that National Guard troops '…spotted armed militia trucks hunting for FEMA.'
Forest Service spokesman Shane Martin said in a statement. “On Saturday afternoon, a Forest Service contact supporting the response to Hurricane Helen received an alert from FEMA that, per protocol, he had contacted interagency leadership.”
A spokesperson said the North Carolina National Guard has not identified any National Guard members in the state who have made such statements or reports.
The deputy said in the report that “a truck loaded with militia was involved,” but the sheriff's office said Parsons acted alone and that no trucks with militia were headed to Lake Lure.
In a 2020 Facebook post, an account appearing to belong to Parsons published a photo with the caption “III Percenters,” a far-right, anti-government militia movement that asserts that a small number of people must protect Americans from government tyranny. . . In another post, from 2019, the account shared a photo with the text: “When torture laws are orders for rebellion.” Other posts included anti-vaccine statements and statements supporting former President Donald Trump.
A FEMA spokeswoman said the agency made operational adjustments in response to threats to the safety of its employees and disaster survivors. In Ashe County, FEMA operations were briefly halted in response to the threat and resumed today, the county sheriff's office said on Facebook. Madison County similarly shut down operations. That's back Monday afternoon.
“FEMA continues to support communities affected by Helen and help survivors apply for assistance,” said a FEMA spokesperson. “Disaster recovery centers will remain open as scheduled, survivors will continue to register for assistance, and we will continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery.”
In the meantime, Parsons was arrested A wave of misinformation regarding humanitarian relief efforts and FEMA operations, as well as harassment of government officials. Famer's public relations director, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the mayor of Asheville were targets of anti-Semitic attacks. Last week, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue reported a London-based think tank. It stated in its report that its analysts found 33 posts on X that generated more than 160 million views as of October 7, refuting FEMA's disinformation.
FEMA and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety have since dedicated resources to combat misinformation.
Trump FEMA spread some misinformation by claiming that federal funds were diverted from emergency disaster relief rather than housing immigrants in the United States
