Man armed with assault rifle arrested after reports ‘armed militia’ were hunting hurricane relief workers

Republicans and conservative media figures have been pushing Hurricane Helene misinformation since the storm made landfall

Government officials were forced to flee a county in North Carolina and one man was arrested after reports that an armed militia was prowling around in trucks “hunting” for Hurricane relief workers.

Deputies later said they found no evidence of truckloads of men with guns, but did arrest a man armed with an assault rifle who allegedly threatened to “mess up” FEMA workers.

On Saturday, the Washington Post reported on an email sent out by US Forest Service officials warning relief workers that “National Guard troops had come across two trucks of men saying [they] were out hunting FEMA.”

That email resulted in aid workers being evacuated out of Rutherford County.

A resident enters a FEMA's improvised station to attend claims by local residents affected by floods following the passing of Hurricane Helene, in Marion, North Carolina (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo)

Rutherford County Sheriff’s deputies learned of a man armed with an assault rifle who had allegedly been making threats against workers in the area. He reportedly told a gas station attendant that he was going to “mess up some FEMA personnel.”

William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested by Lake Lure police after the deputies tipped them off to his alleged threats. He was armed with a pistol and a rifle when police found him. He was booked on a $10,000 bond, which he posted. Parsons has since been released.

A captain with the sheriff’s department said they had investigated the claims about the militia, but determined that “there’s no indication right now that there was a truckload of militiamen,” and that Parsons had acted alone.

“After further investigation, it was determined Parsons acted alone and there were no truck loads of militia going to Lake Lure,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release, the Asheville Citizen Times reports.

William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested in Rutherford County, North Carolina for allegedly making a threat against FEMA aid workers (Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office)

The relief crews were given an all-clear to return on Sunday afternoon, but not before similar threats were reported in Ashe County, again forcing FEMA to “pause their process” while police performed a risk assessment, according to Axios.

Republicans and their allies in conservative media spaces have been trying to use the destruction wrought by hurricanes Helene and Milton as an avenue of attack on Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats ahead of the 2024 election next month.

In their attempts to weaponize the devastation in North Carolina, some Republicans — like Donald Trump — have spread false information and accused FEMA of only giving out $750 to those affected by the storms and diverting other disaster relief funding to migrant shelters.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity has parroted the party’s talking points and repeated the bogus claims that FEMA is diverting relief funds to migrant shelters on the border. He has taken to calling Hurricane Helene “Kamala’s Katrina”.

An aerial view of flood damage wrought by Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on October 3 (Getty Images)

Others, like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have gone even further, accusing Democrats of using lasers to throw hurricanes at Republican voters in the southeast. Even other Republicans are tired of her wild and false claims.

Right-wing rhetoric on the storms has also left some hurricane victims confused and afraid to ask for help.

Last week, a beleaguered man called into the Dan Abrams Show to discuss how his Republican father-in-law — a victim of Hurricane Helene living in North Carolina —was refusing FEMA’s help and was slowly running out of food. The father-in-law was reportedly afraid that if he accepted FEMA’s assistance they would take his house.

Abrams suggested the son-in-law show the man fact sheets about FEMA’s work to put his mind at ease, but he explained they already had.

“We’ve done all of that. We’ve sent him … all the FEMA bulletins. We’ve sent him all the stuff from the fact-checkers. He just doesn’t believe it. He thinks it’s all — he just believes Trump, literally,” the caller said. “He just — it’s a cult. He’s a cult member. I’m sorry to say it, he’s a cult member. And he’s my father-in-law and it sucks.”