Hurricane victims shocked that relief workers are white supremacists

Hurricane Helene victims were left shocked after discovering that the clean-cut relief workers clearing debris from the devastating storm were members of a white supremacy group, it has emerged.

Patriot Front, which has been branded by the Anti-Defamation League as an extremist white supremacist group, deployed volunteers to storm-ravaged communities in Florida and North Carolina after Helene ripped through.

The group, promoting its volunteer efforts on its Telegram channels, claims members rushed to help locals clean up debris and remove downed trees from their neighborhoods. 

But while the alleged Neo-Nazi organization was offering aid to distressed locals, members were also filming propaganda videos that promote an image of 'patriotic civic' duty and 'amplify falsehoods about the government response', The Wall Street Journal reported.

Local officials were also unaware that Patriot Front was aiding in the relief efforts, noting that the volunteers did not look like typical white supremacists. However, the mayor one of small Floridian gulf-coast town says he will accept the group's help as long as they aren't trying to force their ideology on locals.

It comes as FEMA, federal government's disaster response agency, has come under fire for not having enough money to help Americans left in distress by the hurricanes after allegedly blowing billions of dollars on support for illegal migrants.

Jeff Williams, mayor of Horseshoe Beach, a coastal town located about 70 miles west of Gainesville, said Helene when she struck last month that the town hall and more than 90 homes were left destroyed.

He told the newspaper that the town's disaster assistance crews were made up of ordinary citizens and 'a couple of firefighters'. And although roughly 100 workers from other agencies, including FEMA, have come in to help, it still is not enough.

Patriot Front is among the groups the rushed to help Horseshoe Beach residents, but Williams said he was not privy to the situation until after being approached by the media.

Williams reportedly searched the group online and discovered 'plain as day, they are white supremacists'.

'Typically when you see white supremacists, they are not as clean cut looking as what I saw,' he told the Journal, adding: 'As long as they're not here trying to press that on our people — I take the help. I don't care where they're from.'

Recent hurricanes, including Helene, have highlighted a shortage in FEMA funding and prompted Congress to pass a funding bill for an additional $20billion for the anticipated hurricane season.

It came after FEMA was has handed out more than $1billion in taxpayer dollars over the past two years to specifically support illegal migrants with housing. 

Militia groups, such as Patriot Front, are reportedly using the devastating hurricanes to push a narrative about a failed or corrupt government hurricane response. 

In addition to spreading their usual border management propaganda, the groups are now sharing footage of their members showing up to offer disaster relief support. 

Video reportedly captured in Horseshoe Beach showed a Patriot Front member, whose face and voice were obscured, said: 'It is important for American men to gather and help fellow Americans in need, while the federal government is occupied ushering in foreigners and giving homes and giving food and giving water.'

Another video, allegedly recorded in western Carolina, saw members declare that 'we in Patriot Front are here to help out the local communities.'

'Our politicians can hem and haw and switch over quickly to their talking points about Israel, but we truly are supporting our communities and being America first,' the group added.

Civil rights experts say that Patriot Front 'is probably one of the most active white nationalist hate groups in the US.'

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Texas-based group has been responsible for the majority of white supremacist propaganda since 2019. Its members believe that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it to them.

The group emphasizes 'public actions' such as posting racist flyers, holding demonstrations and engaging in public displays 'meant to make people fearful,' a lawsuit filed against the group last month claimed.

Other lawsuits in recent years have cited alleged violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act, including cases brought against former President Donald Trump and others in connection with the siege of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The group is thought to be led by Thomas Rousseau, of Grapevine, Texas, who was one of 31 group members charged with criminal conspiracy to riot after police stopped a truck near a Pride event in Idaho in June last year and found them dressed in uniform and equipped with riot shields.

Rousseau honed his propaganda skills at the Coppell High School student newspaper.

Surprisingly, his first column in February 28, 2016, was titled 'Diversity Club brings friendly atmosphere to students of varied backgrounds', a positive review of his school's equality and diversity initiatives.

Yet just over a year later, he led the white supremacist group Vanguard America at the deadly Unite The Right march in Charlottesville and was pictured in the foreground of several photos also featuring James Alex Fields, Jr., the man who killed counter-protester Heather Heyer when he mowed his car into a crowd.

Patriot Front split from Vanguard America later that year.