An armed North Carolina man was arrested after it was reported that he had made comments about “possibly harming FEMA employees” involved in hurricane relief efforts in the state, authorities said.
William Jacob Parsons, 44, was arrested Saturday after the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office received a call saying the caller witnessed Parsons making threatening comments about Federal Emergency Management Agency responders in Lake Lure and Chimney Rock, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The initial report was made by a soldier who was part of hurricane response in the area, said a sheriff’s office representative, who said the soldier witnessed the man making the threats in a store in Rutherford County.
The sheriff’s office said its officers arrested Parsons, who it said was carrying a handgun and a rifle at the time of his arrest, after they investigated and got a second tip. He was charged with “Going Armed to the Terror of the Public,” the sheriff’s office said. He paid a $10,000 secured bond on the misdemeanor charge and was released later in the day.
Parsons did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FEMA has said it “made operational adjustments” in the area following reports of threats against its hurricane responders. FEMA’s response in the area has been the subject of rampant misinformation and conspiracy theories, such as false claims that the federal government was planning on “bulldozing and seizing” Chimney Rock.
The Washington Post reported that on Saturday, a U.S. Forest Service official sent an alert saying that “FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, N.C., to stand down and evacuate the county immediately. The message stated that National Guard troops ‘had come across … trucks of armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA.’” Officials who spoke to NBC News said they have not been able to verify the contents of the email.
Shayne Martin, a spokesperson for the Forest Service, said in a statement, “On Saturday afternoon, a Forest Service liaison supporting the response to Hurricane Helene received an alert from FEMA that, in accordance with protocol, he relayed to interagency leadership.”
A spokesperson said the North Carolina National Guard had not identified any National Guard members in the state who made such claims or reports.
The soldier said in the report that there was “a truck load of militia involved,” but the sheriff’s office said it found that Parsons had acted alone and that there were no trucks with militia going to Lake Lure.
In a Facebook post from 2020, an account that appears to belong to Parsons posted an image with text reading “III Percenter,” a far-right, anti-government militia movement that purports that a small number of people must protect Americans from government tyranny. In another post, from 2019, the account shared an image with text reading, “WHEN TYRANNY BECOMES LAW REBELLION IS ORDER.” Other posts included anti-vaccine statements and statements supporting former President Donald Trump.
A FEMA spokesperson said the agency has made operational adjustments in response to the threats for the safety of its staff members and the disaster survivors. In Ashe County, FEMA operations were briefly put on pause in response to the threats and resumed today, the county sheriff’s office said on Facebook. Madison County had similarly halted operations, which picked back up again Monday afternoon.
“FEMA continues to support communities impacted by Helene and help survivors apply for assistance,” a FEMA spokesperson said. “Disaster Recovery Centers will continue to be open as scheduled, survivors continue to register for assistance, and we continue to help the people of North Carolina with their recovery.”
Parson was arrested amid a wave of misinformation about disaster relief efforts and FEMA operations, as well as harassment aimed at government officials. FEMA’s director of public affairs, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the mayor of Asheville have been the targets of antisemitic attacks, according to a report last week by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank. It said in its report that its analysts had found 33 posts on X that included debunked FEMA misinformation that generated more than 160 million views as of Oct. 7.
FEMA and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety have since dedicated resources to addressing misinformation.
Trump has stoked some of the misinformation, sharing the claim that FEMA diverted federal funds from emergency disaster relief to instead house migrants in the U.S.