Threats against federal responders and ongoing misinformation regarding hurricane-ravaged North Carolina are infuriating recovery officials and exacerbating fears among government employees.
A North Carolina man was arrested and charged over the weekend in Rutherford County after officials had received reports that the suspect had commented about possibly harming Federal Emergency Management Agency employees responding to the hurricane, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said Monday in a statement.
The threats prompted the agency to temporarily pull some of its field services over the weekend, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters Tuesday. FEMA has since resumed normal operations, she said, as she and state officials warned against the ongoing spread of misinformation about recovery efforts.
Misinformation and conspiracy theories about the federal hurricane response have been spreading online, fueled in part by Republican politicians and their allies. The arrest in North Carolina along with the escalating rhetoric against federal workers online and on the presidential campaign trail is frightening government employees.