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Fired FEMA supervisor claims she followed orders when telling workers to avoid homes of Trump supporters

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Published  November 12, 2024 10:49pm EST
Highlands County
FOX 13 News

FEMA supervisor shares side after controversy

Jennifer Kveglis reports

LAKE PLACID, Fla. - The fired FEMA supervisor accused of telling workers to skip the homes of Trump supporters in Highlands County for Hurricane Milton relief is sharing her side of the story. 

Marn'i Washington said the situation is not as cut and dry as it seems, claiming none of her actions were politically-motivated. She claimed she was following orders from leadership and just wanted to keep her crew safe. 

"I left my life. I left my family to serve America; to help the people, and now that that has been misused and misconstrued, I am disillusioned as to what it is I took oath with," she said. 

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Washington has been a reservist for FEMA since 2019. After Hurricane Milton pushed a tornado through neighborhoods in Lake Placid, she was assigned as the crew lead for Highlands County Disaster Survivor Assistance. 

Her team was tasked with going door-to-door and canvassing for homeowners who may be entitled to federal aid. 

"My job is to make sure my team is safe, that they don't become part of the disaster and that everyone gets registered safe and sound," Washington said.

The situation went viral when a Microsoft Teams message Washington sent to her crew members was leaked to The Daily Wire, where she sent a list of the best practices to implement. One of which was, "Avoid homes advertising Trump."

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"Those were shorthand notes after a briefing with my TFL [Task Force Lead]," she explained. "Based on the discomforts that the team had been experiencing over the past few weeks, we wanted to make sure the team felt safe."

Washington said her TFL was who she directly reported to while in her role. She claimed that she was told the best practices to implement were de-escalation and avoidance. 

"There are a few things that can prevent FEMA personnel on your property. That is, ‘No Trespassing’ signs, the privacy signs, loose animals, unstable ground, if you come outside yelling and screaming," she added. "If it's dangerous for us to enter, we'll always still leave a flyer for you to still be able to contact FEMA." 

Washington claimed that was the case in a few areas.

"Some of them encountered verbiage such as, 'drain the swamp.' The last week I was there, I had been present with a lady who directly told my team member that FEMA was not her thing and she kind of took an aggressive stance," she said.  

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Washington alleges she was advised that all it took was one uncomfortable interaction to declare a "community trend."

"Unfortunately, we're avoiding hostile political encounters, and it just so happened that the consistency had Trump campaign signs," she said. "If we decide to not to do an entire street or so in that area and that did happen during my deployment. I did escalate that to my superiors for their approval, they supported that decision, and we did continue to canvass."

She said team orders and best practices could change daily. Washington said since the controversy became public, she's feared for her personal safety and deleted all social media. 

Washington hopes more FEMA crew leads who have been in similar situations come forward too. 

"I have recently asked for a call-to-action for all of my crew leads and specialists who are deployed right now whether you are in the Carolinas, Georgia or Florida to come forward and share your story," she added. "My allegiance to FEMA has been abused throughout this process, because I was working on the orders of my TFL and the organization, which was to keep my people safe."

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell released a statement following Washington's firing reading in part, "I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA, and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.

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"We take our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters seriously. This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel. I will continue to do everything I can to make sure this never happens again."

The Florida Division of Emergency Management is also investigating the matter.

After the flooding in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, FEMA workers temporarily suspended door-to-door visits after a man with an assault rifle threaten them.  That man, William Parsons, was arrested.

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