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CV NEWS FEED // Former Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor Marn’i Washington on Tuesday took to social media for an interview with American journalist Roland Martin to discuss why she was fired from FEMA.
Washington has faced intense backlash after FEMA fired her over leaked text messages and memos that instructed relief workers to avoid houses with Trump signs while canvassing disaster areas in Florida. Since being fired, Washington has revealed that the policy of avoidance came from her superiors’ directives and FEMA policy.
“They all alleged that these actions were made of my own recognizances and that it was for my own political advances,” Washington said:
However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend and, unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostilities that was encountered by my team, and I was on two different teams during this deployment, they just so happened to have the Trump campaign signage.
The New York Post obtained screenshots and copies of internal memos from Washington:
“Avoid homes advertising Trump,” she wrote in a “best practices” message to employees, the Daily Wire reported, citing copies of the memo.
The order was the second bullet point in a list instructing workers to not go “anywhere alone,” practice “de-escalation,” stay hydrated, and to “follow the rules.”
Washington stated that avoiding Trump supporters’ homes was tied to FEMA’s policies of “avoidance” and “de-escalation,” and suggested that it did not happen only in Florida – as widely reported – but in other states where Trump voters were among the hurricane victims.
“FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation, so this is not isolated, this is a colossal event of avoidance not just in the state of Florida, but you will find avoidance in the Carolinas.”
Washington also alleged that the policy and instructions were developed by higher-ups and can be traced back through FEMA reports.
“Senior leadership will lie to you and tell you that they do not know,” she said. “But if you ask the DSA crew leads and specialists what they are experiencing in the field they will tell you ‘demand for FEMA to give you those incident reports.’”
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Washington also stated that hostilities towards FEMA workers were not uncommon.
“This was my second time, my second crew in Florida… experiencing unwelcome behavior from the residents,” Washington explained. “Now, not all Floridians have been unpleasant but for the most part, the ones who are very passionate about their disdain for FEMA have no problem expressing it.”
