Armed Militia and White Supremacists Terrorize Disaster-Stricken Communities
The spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories has once again brought out the worst in society
Militias roaming neighborhoods claiming to defend people’s property from looters is an all too common theme after disasters strike. While some people welcome them, most do not as many are aware of what happens when they incite themselves into becoming no better than lynch mobs while stereotyping what looters look like.
Armed groups of goons walking around typically create more problems than they are worth. The people recovering from natural disasters are constantly looking over their shoulders wondering if one of them is going to go off for the wrong reasons. Members of the groups rarely understand the law and have their own interpretations about what they are allowed to do. And they won’t go away until local law enforcement and the community stand up to them.
That’s what’s happening in parts of North Carolina and Florida. Far-right extremists armed with misinformation, conspiracy theories, and heavy firepower are roaming around in hurricane-ravaged communities allegedly “hunting” FEMA assessors. It’s gotten so bad that FEMA had to relocate hurricane recovery teams from Rutherford County, NC because “armed militia” could be a threat to their safety.
The Washington Post reported that on Saturday afternoon an official with the U.S. Forestry Service sent a message to several federal agencies with a warning. The U.S. Forestry Service is assisting in Hurricane Helene recovery efforts alongside FEMA, the National Guard, and other local and state agencies.
“FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, N.C., to stand down and evacuate the county immediately,” reads the email as reported by the Washington Post. “The message stated that National Guard troops ‘had come across ... trucks of armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA.’ The IMTs [incident management teams] have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in that county.”
The conspiracy theories and misinformation have been coming from far-right sources and are tinged with racism. Elon Musk, who regularly posts misinformation about many issues, does even more so when crisis strikes. Between him and other big names like the former president and many social media influencers, the misinformation has spread like wildfire and has many of those recovering from the hurricanes in fear of accepting the aid they so desperately need.
From claiming that the initial $750 in aid is a loan and that if not paid back in a year FEMA will take your house to FEMA is coming to seize your land and give it to corporations, these are just the beginning. The goal of these is simple. Stoke fears that the federal agency trying to help is going to rob people while the far-right groups take advantage of communities in desperate need.
To no one’s surprise, this attracts the worst of society. Copying the Ku Klux Klan’s playbook, hate groups see opportunity among those in dire straits after disasters and move in to exact their influence. It also provides them with the opportunity to recruit new members. Far-right extremist groups intentionally get in the way bringing an already slow process to a halt and do little to help the community they are actively hurting.
Sure, they pretend to care and might remove some trees here and there. But the damage they do far exceeds the minimal amount of labor they provide for a few days. These are the same tactics we have seen throughout history and more recently, during the COVID-19 lockdowns and mask mandates. Hate groups took the opportunity to coordinate or infiltrate protests so they could spread their message of hate.
The idea that FEMA aid is “race-based” - putting white people at the bottom of the list - should come as no surprise considering FEMA’s history dictates that Black and Latino communities have to wait much longer than anyone else for relief. One only has to look at Hurricanes Katrina and Maria to see that in action. Even Black and Latino communities in nearly every disaster have experienced this all over the country.
Claiming that aid is based on race, in this case, claiming immigrants get aid first, reeks of far-right fascist and racist propaganda. At the end of the day, FEMA is slow. Arguably one of the slowest agencies the U.S. has. Anyone who knows FEMA’s history knows that its response was only made exponentially worse after former president George Bush placed it under the purviews of the Department of Homeland Security.
Bush added many extra layers of unnecessary bureaucracy to the process.
Yes, FEMA moves at a snail’s pace. But it’s not because of white people being last on the list or race-based policies that benefit nonwhite groups over them. When has that EVER been the case? If anything, white people now know what nonwhite communities deal with whenever we have to rely on the federal government for anything. And if you live in The Gauntlet (Hurricane Alley), that just means you have to deal with FEMA multiple times a year like we do in Houston.
I sympathize with people in North Carolina and I won’t willingly let them fall for the white supremacist hype. They should take all the help they can get.
I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp