Key Points
Federal disaster workers paused and then changed some of their hurricane-recovery efforts in North Carolina, including abandoning door-to-door visits, after receiving threats that they could be targeted by a militia, officials said, as the government response to Helene is targeted by runaway disinformation.ts..
The Rutherford County Sheriffs Office said in a statement Monday that it received a call Saturday about a man with an assault rifle who made a comment about possibly harming" employees of the Federal Emergency Management Agency working in the hard-hit areas of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, in the North Carolina mountains..
Workers from the agency's disaster-assistance teams who help survivors apply for FEMA assistance and connect them with additional state and local resources have stopped going door to door and instead are working from fixed locations while the potential threats are assessed, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press..
The Washington Post reported Sunday that the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting hurricane recovery work, sent a message to multiple federal agencies, warning that FEMA had advised all federal responders in Rutherford County to leave the county immediately..
Critics allege the agency is not doing enough to help survivors, while false rumors circulating ahead of the presidential election include claims that people taking federal relief money could see their land seized or that FEMA is halting trucks full of supplies. ..
