NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Witnesses reported seeing a group of armed people harassing hurricane relief workers in a remote Tennessee community last weekend, a sheriff said Wednesday as a man in North Carolina appeared in court for allegedly threatening aid workers in that state.
Although there is no indication that the incidents are related, they come with the Federal Emergency Management Agency facing rampant disinformation about its response to Hurricane Helene, which came ashore in Florida on Sept. 26 before heading north and leaving a trail of destruction across six states. Reports of threats to aid workers sparked a temporary shift in how FEMA was operating in western North Carolina.
In Tennessee, Carter County Sheriff Mike Farley said that witnesses reported Saturday that FEMA workers were being harassed by a small group of armed people in the remote community of Elk Mills, not far from the North Carolina border. No arrests were made, but Farley said that the people who showed up were looking to cause trouble.
“It was a little hairy situation, no guns were drawn, but they were armed,” Farley told The Associated Press.
Farley said his department was setting up a 24-hour command post in Elk Mills because of what happened. The region is still largely cut off from the rest of the state because Helene damaged and destroyed many bridges and roads.
“The community in that area has been great to work with, but this group is trying to create more hate toward the federal government,” Farley said.
Over the weekend, reports emerged that FEMA workers aiding the Helene efforts could be targeted by a militia, but authorities later said they believed that a man who was arrested and accused of making threats acted alone. FEMA has said operational changes were made to keep personnel safe “out of an abundance of caution,” but workers were back in the field Monday.
William Parsons, the man accused of making the threats in North Carolina, said he believed social media reports that FEMA was refusing to help people, but that he realized that wasn't the case when he arrived in hard-hit Lake Lure, a small community about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Asheville.
During a phone interview with WGHP-TV, the 44-year-old Parsons read aloud a social media post he made that said “We the people” were looking for volunteers on Saturday to “overtake the FEMA site in Lake Lure and send the products up the mountains.”
Parsons, of Bostic, explained that he believed FEMA was withholding supplies and that his post was a call for action, not violence.
“So we were going to go up there and forcefully remove that fence,” he said, but he found a different situation than he expected in Lake Lure. He said he wound up volunteering that day in the relief effort, but law enforcement officers cast doubt on that claim Wednesday.
Capt. Jamie Keever, of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, said soldiers called the sheriff’s office on Saturday after a Polk County gas station attendant relayed a “vague threat” made by a customer, later identified as Parsons, that he would “go mess up some FEMA personnel” in Rutherford County, The Citizen-Times reported.
In an email Wednesday, Keever said Parsons was arrested at a Lake Lure grocery store that was a site for a FEMA bus and a donation site for relief efforts.
“It does not appear Parsons was involved in any relief efforts at the time and if so why was he armed,” Keever said. “I think based off of his statement he was prepared to take action with his firearms and take the donations.”
Parsons had an AR-style rifle and two handguns, according to his arrest warrant.
Sheriff’s officials said Parsons was charged with “going armed to the terror of the public,” a misdemeanor, and released after posting bond. The sheriff’s office said initial reports indicated that a “truckload of militia” was involved in making the threat, but further investigation determined that Parsons acted alone.
Parsons told WGHP-TV that he had a legally owned gun on his hip and his legally owned rifle and pistol in his vehicle.
A public defender was appointed for Parsons during a court appearance Wednesday, WYFF-TV reported. His next court date is Nov. 12. The public defender's office didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Brumfield reported from Baltimore.
People gather at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C.,, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)
People gather at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C.,, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)
Signs are seen at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C., Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose following better-than-expected profit reports from Morgan Stanley, United Airlines and other big companies. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% Wednesday, a day after sliding from its all-time high because of tumbling energy and technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8%, notching another record high, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Exxon Mobil and other energy producers stabilized a day after tumbling with the price of crude oil. Stocks in the chip industry also held up better a day after a market-shaking warning from Dutch supplier ASML. Treasury yields eased in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks bounced back Wednesday following better-than-expected profit reports from Morgan Stanley, United Airlines and other big companies to regain much of their losses from the day before.
The S&P 500 was 0.5% higher in late trading, a day after sliding from its all-time high because of tumbling energy and technology stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 336 points, or 0.8%, with roughly an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.
Morgan Stanley rallied 6.5% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Ted Pick said the investment bank enjoyed a “constructive environment” in its businesses around the world. And with stock prices near records, it’s managing even more money for clients.
United Airlines flew 13.4% higher after reporting a milder drop in summer profit than expected and announcing plans to send up to $1.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services motored up by 2.9% after the freight company delivered better-than-expected results.
They helped offset a 2.2% drop for Citizens Financial Group, which reported weaker results for the latest quarter tha analysts expected.
Energy stocks were holding steadier, including a 0.3% tick higher for Exxon Mobil, a day after sliding to some of the market’s worst losses.
They've been generally following the price of oil, which has fallen back as worries recede that Israel will attack Iranian oil facilities as part of its retaliation for Iran’s missile attack early this month. Iran is a major producer of crude, and a strike could upend its exports to China and elsewhere. Concerns about the strength of demand because of China's flagging economic growth have also hit oil prices.
U.S. technology stocks were also holding up better a day after a market-shaking warning from ASML, a Dutch supplier to the chip industry.
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet said Tuesday that artificial intelligence continues to offer strong upside potential, but “other market segments are taking longer to recover.” That helped lead to slides of 3.5% for Broadcom and 4.7% for Nvidia on Tuesday. A day afterward, both were rising, and Nvidia's gain of 3.5% was the strongest single force pushing upward on the S&P 500.
Still, Wednesday offered the first chance for Asian stock markets to feel the ripples of ASML’s warning, and chip companies there tumbled.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.8% as chip maker Tokyo Electron sank 9.2% and Lasertec Corp., which makes equipment to inspect chips, lost 13.4%.
Stock indexes were mixed across the rest of Asia and Europe. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 1% after the government reported U.K. inflation eased in September to its lowest level in more than three years. That reinforced expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates at its next policy meeting.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve has also already begun cutting interest rates following years of keeping them high in hopes of slowing the economy enough to stifle high inflation.
With inflation finally seeming to be heading toward the Fed’s 2% target, the central bank is widening its focus to include keeping the economy humming. Recent reports showing the U.S. economy remains stronger than expected have raised optimism that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing where it gets inflation down without causing a recession that many had thought would be necessary.
Such optimism, along with hopes for increased stimulus for China's flagging economy, caused the biggest jump in global growth expectations since May 2020 in a survey of global fund managers by Bank of America. The survey also showed the biggest jump in investor optimism since June 2020.
Stocks of smaller companies led the way on Wednesday, an indication that investors are seeing solid growth for the U.S. economy ahead. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped 1.6%.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.01% from 4.03% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for what the Fed will do, slipped to 3.93% from 3.95%.
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
The Charging Bull statue in New York's Financial District is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
