Florida sues FEMA, alleging discrimination against Trump supporters

By Brad Brooks and Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) - Florida's attorney general said on Thursday she filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency for allegedly discriminating against hurricane victims who supported President-elect Donald Trump.

FEMA earlier this week said it fired an employee who advised her survivor assistance team in Florida to not go to homes with yard signs supporting Trump. FEMA said the matter was referred for investigation to the Office of Special Counsel.

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell in a statement this week announcing the firing of the employee said, "this is a clear violation of FEMA's core values & principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation."

The Florida lawsuit alleges that discrimination against Trump supporters took place in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Lake Placid, Florida. Helene hit Florida in September, followed a few weeks later by Milton in October.

"Hurricane season is not over, and the federal agency in charge of emergency response is embroiled in scandal – caught withholding aid from storm victims in Florida who support President Trump," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a written statement.

The FEMA employee who was fired, Marn'i Washington, and FEMA are named as defendants on Florida's lawsuit.

Washington said this week that FEMA was scapegoating her and that it was a common practice for the agency's teams to avoid some places based on past hostile interactions.

FEMA said in an email that it does not comment on pending litigation. The agency did not respond to a request for comment on Washington's allegations that she is being scapegoated.

Washington told journalist Roland Martin on his YouTube show earlier this week that FEMA was alleging she acted on her own accord and based on her own political allegiances.

"However, if you look at the record, there is what we call a community trend," Washington said. "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."

(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado and Kanishka Singh in Washington, DC; editing by Donna Bryson and Bill Berkrot)