Hurricane aid conspiracy
In the days and weeks after hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed the Southeast, communities are looking to crowdfund for repairs as conspiracy theories dog efforts to rebuild.
Since the storms hit, the Biden administration has sought to counter false accusations that it is diverting federal relief funds to immigrants, a claim advanced by some Republican politicians, including former President Donald Trump.
A flurry of dubious pleas for crowdfunding — including a viral TikTok video by a man accusing the Federal Emergency Management Agency of evicting him from his Asheville, North Carolina, business — have added to the swirl of false claims, threatening to sap public focus from those who actually need help.
Ashley Aldous Pangborn, 35, said she was glad friends persuaded her to set up a GoFundMe campaign after Helene filled her family’s Homosassa, Florida, home with 28 inches of water. She and her husband had just finished renovations, almost exactly one year since Hurricane Idalia caused nearly $130,000 in property damage.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/hurricane-aid-conspiracy-theories-threaten-crowdfunding-efforts-rcna175319
Thaddaeus ,D