politics

As usual, Trump only amplifies something that was floating around for decades. FEMA has long been the target of conspiracy theories. You can get a taste of it from the old X-Files movie. Being a federal department that gets to do extraordinary things in emergencies tends to make it a target.

If I may make a suggestion - with a parachute.

With no parachute they just go down for a couple minutes. With a parachute they go up and down for hours, in the middle of a hurricane.

Then we would need a border wall to keep Repubs out of good states. Repubs come swarming across borders in massive numbers and vote for the very same policies that made their own states fail.

I don't know your age but chances are you were just not familiar with right wing FEMA conspiracies, because they're ancient.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/FEMA_camps_conspiracy_theory

Wall of text, but a good read if you have the time.

"One of the first known references to FEMA concentration camps comes from a newsletter issued by the Posse Comitatus organization in 1982, with the warning that "hardcore patriots" were to be detained in them.[2] The prevalence of the conspiracy theory increased in line with the rise of the militia movement in the 1990s.[2] The conspiracy was part of the rhetoric of the now largely disbanded Militia of Montana. The self-styled congressional analyst David Fletcher was their spokesman and brought it up in meetings, even pointing out "United Nations Reserves" that the government was building camps for in the Northern Cascades.[13]

A supposed FEMA camp was featured in Linda Thompson's 1994 film America Under Siege; in reality, the "FEMA camp" was an Amtrak repair facility.[14][15] She accused the government of using "black helicopters" against patriots to prevent them from interfering with plans to establish a New World Order.[16][17][18] Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the conspiracy theory was discussed by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Domestic Terrorism.[9] The theory's inclusion in the plot of the 1998 X-Files movie showed its growing reach.[1]

Fears of FEMA declined in the early 2000s as foreign terrorists were perceived as the major threat but the late-2000s recession and the election of Barack Obama renewed opposition among conservatives and libertarians to the federal government. Obama's election also enabled the theory to reach more mainstream right-wing circles whereas it had previously been confined to the fringes. There was a resurgence in the militia movement, and with it a resurgence of the FEMA camps conspiracy theory[9] and a corresponding boom in the "prepper" economy.[19] Reader emails published by the magazine National Review have also promoted the theory.[3]

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann alluded to the theory while in office,[20] as have other Republican Party politicians.[21] In December 2011 Camille Marino of the animal liberation website Negotiation is Over posted an alert on her website titled "Military Now Recruiting Guards for FEMA Domestic Detainment/Internment Camps" containing the usual warnings about the end of civil liberties and the announcement that the U.S. Army is looking for "a Few Good Totalitarians" to herd dissenters into camps.[22]

In 2015, fears of the FEMA roundup beginning surfaced with the announcement of a domestic military training operation called Jade Helm 15. County and state officials in Texas denounced the fears[23] and the exercise was completed with no one being placed into an internment camp.[24] Also in 2015, additional speculation about the theory was stoked by retired general Wesley Clark when he called for World War II-style internment camps to be revived to combat Muslim extremism. He stated, "If these people are radicalized and they do not support the United States and they're disloyal to the United States as a matter of principle, fine, that's their right. It’s our right and our obligation to segregate them from the normal community for the duration of the conflict."[25]

According to the Las Vegas Police Department and witnesses in the weeks leading up to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, gunman Stephen Paddock reportedly espoused right-wing anti-government and conspiratorial views, including FEMA conspiracies. He reportedly told a friend that "sometimes, sacrifices have to be made" in order to encourage the American public to arm themselves.[26][27]

Conspiracy theorists have used the actual internment of Japanese Americans during World War II in specifically constructed camps as evidence that such a scenario has historic precedent.[2] Proponents have cited a contingency plan (Rex 84) drafted in part by U.S. Marine Colonel Oliver North calling for the suspension of the Constitution and the detainment of citizens in the event of a national crisis.[2] This was aimed at left-wing activists, not the libertarians and right-wingers generally associated with FEMA theories.[28] This has been linked to a 1970 document by Louis Giuffrida (years later, the director of FEMA) calling for the establishment of martial law in the event of an uprising by African American militants and the internment of millions of African Americans.[2]

Alex Jones has promoted conspiracy theories about FEMA on InfoWars. In 2010, Jones produced and directed Police State 4: The Rise of FEMA, a film he claimed "conclusively proves the existence of a secret network of FEMA camps" and that "The military-industrial complex is transforming our once free nation into a giant prison camp." In 2012, Jones linked to a story titled "List of All FEMA Concentration Camps in America Revealed" from the German UFO conspiracy website Disclose.tv.[29]"

Mainly because after the pr disasters of ruby ridge and then Waco, right winged militia's grew in numbers, basically using the events as marketing materials.

Right winged grifters love it when they are confronted, it fulfills all their fantasies about the underdog standing up to authority, and proves in their minds that they were correct the whole time.

Since the American fascist movements have legitimized news organizations that will echo their claims, it's extremely hard to actually crack down on them without turning them into Martyrs.

The end result has been the federal government putting right winged extremists on the back burner for the last 30 years, allowing them to fester into the infection we know and hate today.

Sadly I wasn't wondering. Just watching the country implode very quickly, only for an equally horrifying explosion coming all too soon.

There will be mass violence if Trump wins or loses. Far more manageable if the latter, but democrats are masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Can you please explain? I'm interested

the article isn't really getting into the conspiracy theories that are actually causing this.

it's more qanon style "fema is the secret police enforcement arm of the deep state coming to do their dark bidding on you the one time you're vulnerable and no one will see or believe you"

that's what they believe that makes them want to kill them. generally speaking.

Southern states and the need to protect people who rightfully shouldn't need protection. Really hope the national guard is the next stage of this. It should be reinforced that this behavior is not to be tolerated.

bread and butter