As leaders and experts continue to sound the alarm over disinformation about hurricanes Helene and Milton, authorities have arrested a man in western North Carolina who allegedly had threatened to harm Federal Emergency Management Agency employees working on storm recovery efforts.
William Jacob Parsons, 44, was armed with a rifle and a handgun when he was arrested Saturday, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said. He was charged with going armed to the terror of the public, a misdemeanor offense.
Parsons, who did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment, was released on a $10,000 bond.
Targeting of emergency responders has not been an anomaly in recent weeks. Amid a horde of wild conspiracy theories about the hurricanes — which Donald Trump and his allies have seized on as they seek to politicize the tragedies — recovery and relief efforts have been disrupted, local officials say. Parsons’ alleged threat led to FEMA pausing door-to-door outreach for about a day, the agency’s administrator Deanna Criswell said at a briefing on Tuesday. FEMA workers haven’t been the only ones affected, either: Meteorologists also have faced death threats and heightened harassment as the conspiracy theories spread.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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