NC man’s arrest after alleged FEMA threat a reminder lies can destroy democracy
Opinion - Issac Bailey
A FEMA search and rescue team from Maryland search for human remains in debris from a structure in Swannanoa on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 after Tropical Storm Helene flooded the Swannanoa River. North Carolina officials have confirmed 76 deaths from Tropical Storm Helene. TRAVIS LONG tlong@newsobserver.com
This past weekend isn’t the first time a North Carolina man who had apparently been convinced an extreme conspiracy theory was true allegedly picked up a gun to take matters into his own hands.
It’s unlikely to be the last time if former President Donald Trump, conspiracy-theorist-in-chief, wins the White House next month — or even if he doesn’t.
That’s the uncomfortable truth we don’t grapple with enough.
A 44-year-old man named William Jacob Parsons was arrested Saturday and accused of threatening FEMA workers who are helping western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene’s wrath. Police said he was armed with a handgun and an assault rifle, the kind of gun that has been a favorite of mass shooters and the young man who tried to assassinate Trump during a rally in Pennsylvania.
Parsons likely believed the lies Trump and too many of his supporters have been telling since Hurricane Helene hit western North Carolina.
They lied about the federal response, lied about the government blocking help from civilians, lied that people in the affected area would receive only $750.
They lied to struggling residents that federal officials are coming into the area to seize property and “bulldoze bodies under the rubble” rather than assist local and state officials and volunteers.
The lies have led to residents refusing help they desperately need, slowed recovery efforts as well as anti semitic and other threats against federal employees.
Though Parsons was the man with a gun — fears of an armed militia descending on Rutherford County convinced FEMA to temporarily remove personnel — he’s indicative of something larger, more sinister and disturbing.
Shortly after the 2016 election between Hillary Clinton and Trump, then-28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch drove from Salisbury to Washington, D.C. to rescue imaginary children from an imaginary child sex ring rumored to be run by Clinton and other Democrats.
The children were supposed to be in the basement of Comet Ping Pong pizzeria. The restaurant has no basement. There were no children. Welch didn’t figure that out until after shooting inside Comet.
The lies have something uncomfortably in common with the FEMA lies. The “Pizzagate” conspiracy was a fantastical demonization of Trump’s political opponents. The FEMA lies are designed to make it more difficult for Vice President Kamala Harris to defeat Trump in three weeks.
Maybe the worst lies are those that have convinced millions of Trump supporters that the 2020 election was stolen. Those lies led to a violent insurrection attempt on our Capitol that left multiple people dead, caused millions in damage and gave a black eye to our democracy that remains.
It’s disturbing Trump and his supporters are not only quick to believe the lies and conspiracy theories, but to spread them. It’s more disturbing that seemingly nothing can convince them to change course.
Trump chose a man as his partner, Sen. J.D. Vance, who refuses to admit the former president lost four years ago or commit to certifying an election if he becomes vice president. Imagine if Harris did the same, decided to not certify next month’s election if Trump wins. Imagine the chaos.
Imagine the ugliness that would result. As bad as things got on Jan. 6, 2021, they would likely be worse if Harris is as irresponsible as Vance has said he’ll be.
That’s why the lies being told aren’t only bad for western North Carolina, though slowing down recovery efforts when so many people need help is ghastly.
A man named Parsons apparently following in the footsteps of a man named Welch because each bought into lies is sobering.
Because the lies are also affecting the underpinnings of our democracy that should scare every American, no matter who you want to win in November. Issac Bailey is a McClatchy Opinion writer in North and South Carolina.
Cedar's Take:
The above "Opinion Piece" is a good example of the far left looney birds mindset. All the gaslighting buzz words are there; extreme, conspiracy theory, assault rifle, insurrection, threat to democracy, and Donald Trump.
Parsons was indeed upset, and he figured he'd drive down to Lake Lure and put a fire under FEMA's ass to get things moving.
His threat posted on Facebook: "We the people are sick and tired of the BS. We the people are seeking volunteers to join us and overtake the FEMA site in Lake Lure and send the products up the mountains this Saturday".
But when Parsons got to the FEMA site at Lake Lure, he ended up volunteering. In fact he worked at the FEMA site all day.
Parsons told Newsweek: "They want to sit here and lie and say I was carrying guns around. I had one gun on me, which was legally owned and sitting on the side of my hip, and I had a rifle and another pistol that were in my vehicle that were both lawful and legal to own."
William Jacob Parsons Photo Courtesy Rutherford County Sheriff's Office
Parsons was arrested and released on a $10,000.00 secured bond according to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office.
Once his mugshot was made public the left loonies could not help themselves commenting that he looked like a "Trumper" and that he was obviously racist terrorist.
The Washington Post dug through his facebook account and discovered he was a "anti-vax" and "anti-mask" supporter and "backed Donald Trump" the horror!
Frankly Parsons looks like 90% of western North Carolina residents I've met. Mrs. Cedar's family in Maine has neighbors with the same rugged weathered look and no nonsense approach to life. No Bill Parsons I don't expect has ever had a double mocha latte at Starbucks.
Seriously the "White guys for Harris" crowd need to get over themselves.
I'd guess there is a pretty good chance all charges will be dropped in the next week.
Truth is people are upset, and the Federal Government has never been known to ever move with any great urgency.
But why is the Observer publishing this left wing socialist garbage? Why is a distorted fictional account of what actually happened published as fact under the shelter of "opinion" and without any fact checking whatsoever?
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