WaPo: “Threats against federal emergency response personnel have hampered relief work in parts of western North Carolina hard hit by Hurricane Helene, prompting disaster workers to relocate because of safety concerns and feeding a cycle of fear and anxiety.
On Monday, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that it had arrested William Jacob Parsons, 44, of Bostic, N.C., on charges of making threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency employees. FEMA and U.S. Forest Service personnel, who had been working on recovery, relocated, and at least some work in the county was paused. While officials had warned about the threat of truckloads of militia potentially targeting relief workers, the sheriff’s office did not find evidence for those claims.
The incident is one of the latest examples of growing concerns about safety and security in western North Carolina, where many towns were almost wiped off the map after the historic hurricane made landfall more than two weeks ago. In the days and weeks since, misinformation and rumors have made the recovery more difficult, targeting multiple federal agencies operating as part of the recovery effort. Federal officials such as the homeland security secretary and FEMA’s director of public affairs have been the targets of antisemitic attacks.”