The former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor fired for reportedly directing disaster relief workers to avoid hurricane-hit homes in Florida sporting signs supporting Donald Trump is now spilling the beans on the department's discrimination scandal.
According to the ex-employee, this was not an "isolated incident," as the agency insists, and the discriminatory practice is happening elsewhere in other disaster areas. In fact, it's widespread FEMA policy to discriminate against "politically hostile" houses when allocating aid, she said.
The FEMA official who was just fired for telling workers to avoid homes impacted by the hurricanes in Florida if they had Trump signs says that it was not "isolated" and that FEMA workers were instructed to do it in the Carolinas too. pic.twitter.com/BpBdZFSSPR
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 12, 2024
Following her firing, Marn'i Washington spoke out in an interview Tuesday with "Roland Martin Unfiltered," a daily digital show airing on The Black Star Network, which provides the perspectives of "Black thought leaders, influencers and opinion makers."
Washington, wanting to set the record straight, blasted FEMA's suggestion that she had made an independent, managerial decision telling staff to skip pro-Trump households. She said that this was a mischaracterization of what happened. Rather, it's standard protocol that even extends beyond Florida, Washington retorted, like the Carolinas.
"FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation, so this is not isolated," Washington told the program's titular host. "This is a colossal event of avoidance not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas."
FEMA previously paused aid in parts of North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. FEMA responders were reportedly relocated over concerns of an "armed militia" allegedly threatening personnel in the area.
"Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know," Washington asserted. "But if you ask the [Disaster Survivor Assistance] crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field, they will tell you."
Washington cited incident reports that would substantiate instances of "avoidance" due to "political hostility," pointing to a "community trend" of such so-called "hostility" among Floridians flying Trump flags or bearing Trump backyard signs in Lake Placid.
She said her higher-ups had approved her team's avoidance of certain streets in Lake Placid. As proof, she showed a text message she sent a supervisor saying that Lagrow Road was "politically hostile," so "We are not canvassing this street further." According to the text exchange, the supervisor responded, "Great decision. Thanks for the update."
"They all alleged that these actions were made on my own recognizance and it was for my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend. Unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility that was encountered by my team [...] they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage," Washington said of the neighborhood's "unwelcoming behavior."
FEMA fired Washington over the weekend after whistleblowers told The Daily Wire she ordered them (verbally and via text) to "avoid homes advertising Trump" when canvassing properties in deep-red Highlands County, Florida.
According to the internal correspondence, the FEMA workers were instructed to bypass these homes — at least 20 of them — as they surveyed the property damage brought by Hurricane Milton. This meant that those residents were not afforded the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance. FEMA workers would enter into the government's logging system notes such as "Trump sign, no contact per leadership" and "Per leadership no stop Trump flag" to track addresses they did not visit, citing the directive.
Whistleblowers say that relief workers were told it was "best practice" to pass over houses "advertising Trump."
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) November 8, 2024
The workers would enter into the system that they made no contact with the residents, blaming the directive: "Trump sign, no contact per leadership" pic.twitter.com/1b0uL7pSDy
In response to The Daily Wire's report, FEMA insisted that Washington's orders were an "isolated incident" and not approved by the agency. "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," a FEMA spokesperson said.
Now, after her axing, Washington says she simply served as a scapegoat and was sacrificed for FEMA to save face.