By Brad Brooks and Kanishka Singh
(Reuters) – Florida’s attorney general said on Thursday she has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for allegedly discriminating against hurricane victims who supported newly elected President Donald Trump.
FEMA said earlier this week it had fired an employee who advised its Florida survival response team not to go to homes with yard signs supporting Trump. FEMA said the matter was referred to the Office of Special Counsel for investigation.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said in a statement this week announcing the employee’s termination: “This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles of helping people regardless of their political beliefs.”
The Florida lawsuit alleges discrimination against Trump supporters occurred in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Lake Placid, Florida. Helene reached Florida in September, followed a few weeks later by Milton in October.
“Hurricane season is not yet over and the federal agency responsible for disaster relief is embroiled in a scandal – caught with withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump,” Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a written declaration.
The FEMA employee who was fired, Marn’i Washington, and FEMA are named as defendants in the Florida lawsuit.
Washington said this week that FEMA was scapegoating her and that it was common for the agency’s teams to avoid some places based on past hostile interactions.
FEMA said in an email that it does not comment on pending litigation. The agency did not respond to a request for comment on Washington’s accusations of scapegoating.
Washington told journalist Roland Martin on his YouTube show earlier this week that FEMA claimed it was acting on its own accord and based on its own political loyalties.
“However, if you look at the facts, there is what we call a community trend,” Washington said. “And unfortunately it just so happened that the political hostility that my team faced – and I was on two different teams during this deployment – happened to be carrying the Trump campaign signs.”
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado and Kanishka Singh in Washington, DC; Editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot)
