FEMA Supervisor Fired for Allegedly Telling Relief Workers to Skip Homes of Trump Supporters
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has confirmed that a supervisor is currently under investigation after being fired for allegedly asking fellow employees not to inspect homes in a Florida town hit by Hurricane Milton if they displayed signs in their yards supporting Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
According to internal correspondence obtained by The Daily Wire, supervisor Marn’i Washington told workers to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they went to a Lake Placid neighborhood to assess the damage left by the hurricane. Washington allegedly reiterated the message verbally and in a group chat used by the workers.
“I volunteered to help disaster victims, not discriminate against them,” one of the employees told the outlet. “It didn’t matter if people were black, white, Hispanic, for Trump, for Harris. Everyone deserves the same amount of help.”
Department of Homeland Security employees were tasked to help understaffed FEMA workers as they dealt with Hurricane Milton which struck just weeks after Hurricane Helene. The workers given the guidance were operating in the Highland County area.
“I know they’re short-staffed, I thought we could go help and make a difference,” one of the employees said. “When we got there we were told to discriminate against people. It’s almost unbelievable to think that somebody in the federal government would think that’s okay.”
The government employees shared that as a result of the guidance from Washington, they skipped over 20 homes with Trump signs or flags from the end of October and into November – essentially barring residents from receiving FEMA assistance.
Workers who followed the guidance kept track of the houses they skipped noting, “Trump sign no entry per leadership,” “Per leadership no stop Trump flag,” “Trump sign,” and “Trump sign, no contact per leadership.”
Employees said it felt wrong to discriminate against people when they were at their “most vulnerable.”
One of those employees filed a complaint to DHS writing, “If they had damage or lost power for over thirty-six hours, it was my duty to inform them of benefits to which they are entitled through FEMA.”
But instead, they were guided to skip over those homes along with other recommendations like “practice de-escalation and preventative measures,” and “avoid high salt diets and coffee.”
“This behavior raises significant concerns of discrimination against United States citizens because of their political views,” a copy of the complaint obtained by The Daily Wire said. “These actions not only undermine the integrity of our agency and create a hostile work environment for those who may hold differing political beliefs but they also threaten the very democracy of our country.”
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell has called the incident “reprehensible.”
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation,” she said. “This type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.”
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Criswell noted that Washington was terminated and the matter has been turned over to FEMA’s Office of Special Counsel.
Another FEMA spokesperson released a statement saying the agency is “deeply disturbed” by the employee’s actions and that it is an “isolated incident.”
“The employee who issued this guidance had no authority and was given no direction to tell teams to avoid these homes and we are reaching out to the people who may have not been reached as a result of this incident,” the spokesperson said, adding that the agency has helped more than 365,000 households impacted by both Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida and provided nearly $900 million in direct assistance to survivors.
“We are horrified that this took place and therefore have taken extreme actions to correct this situation and have ensured that the matter was addressed at all levels.”
Before being terminated, Washington walked back the instructions she gave and also denied that homes were skipped after a meeting with other FEMA administrators.
Lake Placid Mayor John Holbrook told the New York Post that many of the residents had taken it upon themselves to clear out the destruction with the assistance of Highland County. He noted that he hadn’t noticed FEMA activity in the area.
“We’re picking up most of the debris ourselves,” he said.
Highland County backed Trump by 70% in the general election last Tuesday.
It is unclear if a similar guidance was issued elsewhere in the country.
Meanwhile, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to investigate the incident as well.
The blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy is yet another reason why the Biden-Harris administration is in its final days,” DeSantis said on social media.
“New leadership is on the way in DC, and I’m optimistic that these partisan bureaucrats will be fired,” he said.
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