One armed resident does not make a “militia.” The rumors swirling around in the wake of Hurricane Helene are a massive exaggeration of the truth. FEMA employees may not feel especially welcome in North Carolina, especially the town of Bat Cave. That doesn’t mean organized groups of hillbillies are out hunting them. Only one. William Jacob Parsons.
FEMA fears militia
The panic stricken militia fears have been debunked as liberal mass hysteria. It shows that any excuse FEMA workers can come up with to avoid work and still get paid will be used to the fullest extent. There is a tiny mustard seed of truth to the gossip.
44-year-old North Carolina resident William Jacob Parsons is under arrest. He’s got an interesting list of charges. “Going Armed to the Terror of the Public” sounds like a capitol crime but down south it’s only a misdemeanor.
Parsons, relates Captain Jamie Keever with the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, “was armed with a handgun and a rifle.” So is most of North Carolina. The thing which made him a special interest to law enforcement was a call they got on Saturday.
A man had “made the comment about possibly harming FEMA employees working after the disaster of Hurricane Helene in the Lake Lure and Chimney Rock area.” The rumor mill turned him into a whole militia all by himself.
It didn’t take long for the FBI to run him down from “information about the color and license plate of his vehicle.” Parsons was subsequently “arrested in his car outside a grocery store that is functioning as a storm relief site.”
A few hours later he was free on a $10,000 secured bond. It’s not clear if he has an attorney but he definitely doesn’t have an armed militia right behind him.

Aid on pause
Alejandro Mayorkas had to hit the pause button on disaster relief efforts for safety reasons. Recently, crews were unable to help the residents of Bat Cave. FEMA was stopped in their tracks by a road closed sign. Officials report that “aid to several communities impacted by Hurricane Helene was temporarily paused in parts of North Carolina over the weekend due to reports of threats against Federal Emergency Management Agency responders.”
They say “a backdrop of misinformation about responses” fueled the hostility but by blaming it on local armed militia members, without any basis, they’re spreading more misinformation.
“For the safety of our dedicated staff and the disaster survivors we are helping, FEMA has made some operational adjustments,” a spokesperson relates in a statement.
“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.” The misinformation started when “FEMA workers had to halt their work in Rutherford County due to reports National Guard troops saw ‘armed militia‘ threatening the workers.”
After the warning went viral, Sheriff Keever sheepishly admits, “it was determined Parsons acted alone and there were no truck loads of militia going to Lake Lure.” Somebody embellished the story, then someone embellished it some more. Until it spiraled out of control.
It seems Governor Roy Cooper fell victim to the false militia rumors. His deputy communications director, Jordan Monaghan, relates, “we are aware of significant misinformation online and reports of threats to response workers on the ground and the safety of responders must be taken seriously.“