Marni Washington said she was following protocol to keep field workers safe in a politicized environment following 2024’s Hurricane Milton.
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Marni Washington, the Federal Emergency Management Agency crew leader who was fired two years ago for not visiting homes displaying signs backing then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, said Wednesday she was following protocol to keep field workers safe in a politicized environment.
Washington’s comments came a day after the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General issued a report finding that the decision to avoid nearly a dozen homes in Florida in the wake of 2024’s Hurricane Milton violated federal law and agency policy.
Washington said FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews encountered dangerous environments because the agency’s response had become a flash point among Trump supporters.
“I had never seen people so passionate during that political season, and what we were experiencing was not just conspiracy theories. People were physically charging at us with aggressive postures and accusations,” she said. “People calling people on the phone saying FEMA was here. They would beat us to the fence and yell: ‘Don’t come here, you are part of Biden; we know what Biden is doing. You are taking our money and giving it to immigrants.’ ‘Drain the swamp’ was a common term.”
Washington, who had worked for FEMA for five years, said her team avoided only homes that had both Trump signs and other indications of hostility: signs signaling guns on the property or that homeowners would shoot trespassers, or where residents confronted staffers.
During that deployment, she said, her team visited and provided aid to 1,100 homes and did not approach 20 homes due to safety concerns.
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She is being investigated by federal officials for violating the Hatch Act and is suing a California-based company that contracts with FEMA for defamation and wrongful termination.
FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Washington’s remarks Wednesday.
In a text message from late October 2024 provided to The Washington Post, Washington told her supervisor they were not canvassing one street because it was “politically hostile.” In response, the official said: “Great decision. Thanks for the update.”
Washington said that despite repeated threats to FEMA workers in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida, agency leaders had not revamped their safety or security protocols. One crew in Georgia documented mannequins hanging from nooses on a road, according to a message Washington provided to The Post.
“We were in uncharted territories, and we have to play it safe,” Washington said. “Our job is not to become part of the disaster when responding to a disaster.”
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