NC National Guard has no information about armed militias ‘hunting FEMA’ despite media reports

The public affairs office at the North Carolina National Guard (NCNG) tells The Lion it has no information about an alleged interaction between its soldiers and supposed militia “hunting FEMA.” 

Multiple media outlets are claiming armed militia members encountered by National Guard units responding to Hurricane Helene told the guardsmen they were out to hunt FEMA workers. 

The report started with a story Monday in the Washington Post reporting the National Forest Service sent an urgent message to all federal agencies telling them FEMA workers had been evacuated after the NCNG unit advised them of the interaction with the militia. 

But a cautiously worded email to The Lion by the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) of the NCNG recommended The LION contact FEMA, because the state’s military command had no information on the matter. 

“All queries about the supposed militia referenced in the Washington Post article are to be directed to FEMA concerning their actions,” said the PAO’s email to The Lion. “The NCNG is currently working to verify the alleged communication between the supposed militia and our Soldiers. We can confirm we are continuing the mission of assisting the people of Western North Carolina at the request of the county leaders.” 

Members of the National Guard contacted by The Lion also could not confirm the story. 

In a follow up, the National Guard PAO was more specific: “At this time, we are unaware of any email from the North Carolina National Guard to FEMA concerning alleged militia interactions with our Soldiers.” 

The NCNG then punted to FEMA to clarify why it pulled out its workers from the area, writing, “For any further inquiries or requests related to FEMA’s response to this matter, we recommend directing your questions to FEMA, as they would be the appropriate agency to provide clarification on this topic.” 

An inquiry from The Lion to Major General Todd Hunt, the Adjutant General of the NCNG, was not returned by time of publication.

The Washington Post article reported residents of western North Carolina are angrily confronting aid workers, saying they don’t want the federal government there.

Some of the story, however, is based on hearsay. 

The Post reported a retired forest service employee, Riva Duncan, alleges a forest service employee told her that when pulling into a gas station someone yelled at him to leave, saying, “We don’t want the government here.” 

“It’s terrible because a lot of these folks who need assistance are refusing it because they believe the stuff people are saying about FEMA and the government,” said Duncan, who testified in front of Congress about the dangers of “wildfires in a warming world” and advocates for higher pay and benefits for wildfire fighters. “And it’s sad because they are probably the ones who need the help the most.” 

The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in hard-hit western North Carolina, near Asheville, did arrest a man for making violent threats against FEMA workers, but a statement by the sheriff called the reports of militia organized against FEMA workers “unfounded.”

The New York Post reported the widespread suspicion that disaster relief is being withheld from western North Carolina, in part because of the Biden administration’s general politicization of all federal agencies and, in part, because western North Carolina is heavily Republican. 

FEMA claimed earlier in the month it was running out of hurricane relief funds even as FEMA’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, said it spent $1.4 billion on housing illegal immigrants over the last two years, which initiated a firestorm of protest. 

Photo: NC National Guard Facebook