Florida sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director and an employee who was fired for telling a survivor assistance team after Hurricane Milton to not visit homes displaying signs supporting President-elect Trump’s candidacy.
Ashley Moody, the state’s Republican attorney general, alleged FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell “agreed” to deny Trump supporters relief alongside the terminated employee, Marn’i Washington.
“While the facts will continue to come out over the weeks and months, it is already clear that Defendant Washington conspired with senior FEMA officials, as well as those carrying out her orders, to violate the civil rights of Florida citizens,” reads the complaint.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Fort Pierce, Fla., asks for unspecified damages and a declaration that the two FEMA officials unlawfully conspired to violate Floridians’ civil rights.
“It’s unacceptable for the federal government to discriminate against Floridians who voted for Trump, and especially egregious in the aftermath of a hurricane,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said in a statement.
“I’m supportive of this legal action by the Attorney General’s Office, and I have instructed state agencies to likewise take any action necessary to investigate and ensure those who engaged in this behavior are held accountable.”
The Hill has reached out to FEMA for comment on the lawsuit. Washington could not be reached for comment.
Criswell publicly confirmed the employee’s termination on Saturday and condemned the incident.
“This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible,” Criswell said in a statement.
In an interview with journalist Roland S. Martin, Washington said FEMA was scapegoating her. It was common practice for teams to skip certain streets after past “hostile” interactions, she said.
“They all alleged that these actions were made on my own recognizance and that it was from my own political advances. However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend. And unfortunately, it just so happened that the political hostility 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,” Washington said.
“FEMA always preaches avoidance first and then de-escalation. So this is not isolated. This is a colossal event of avoidance,” she added.
The lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks, an appointee of former President Clinton, the case docket shows.
