FEMA camps conspiracy theory

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The FEMA camps conspiracy theory is a belief, particularly within the American Patriot movement, [1] that the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is planning to imprison US citizens in concentration camps, following the imposition of martial law in the United States after a major disaster or crisis. [1] [2] [3] [4] In some versions of the theory, only suspected dissidents will be imprisoned. In more extreme versions, large numbers of US citizens will be imprisoned for the purposes of extermination as a New World Order is established. The theory has existed since the late 1970s, but its circulation has increased with the advent of the internet and social media platforms. [2]

Contents

The US government previously interned US citizens in concentration camps during WWII and developed, but did not implement, the Rex 84 contingency plan for mass internment of US citizens in the 1980s. [2]

About FEMA

FEMA is a United States government agency tasked with the effective management of major emergencies within the country, including ensuring the continuity of government during a large-scale disaster including a nuclear war. It provides federal relief to areas afflicted by natural disasters. [5] The precursor agency to FEMA was the Federal Civil Defense Administration established by President Harry S Truman in 1950 with Executive Order 10186. [6] FEMA was established in 1979 under Executive Order 12127 by President Jimmy Carter. It was established to coordinate the response to any major disaster that has occurred in the United States that overwhelms local and state authorities. [7] In 2002, it was finally codified into law and made a component of the Department of Homeland Security. As well as providing large-scale emergency-management, FEMA is also the largest flood-insurer in the United States, mainly because most private insurance companies do not offer flood insurance. [8]

Proponents of the conspiracy theory argue FEMA's mission is a cover up for its "real" purpose — to assume control of the United States following a major disaster or threat — and that the organization is "the executive arm of the coming police state". [2]

Variations

The theory in general states that once a disaster or threat of one comes into being, martial law will be declared and FEMA's emergency powers will come into operation, and it will effectively become the government. [1] The Constitution will be suspended, and citizens will be moved into camps. [2] : 251 

In many versions, "dissidents" (typically defined as constitutionalists[ clarification needed ] or members of the patriot movement) will merely be imprisoned. [9] Others have gone so far as to argue that they will be sent to these camps to be murdered. [4] Extreme versions state that plans are in place to imprison and kill apolitical American citizens in camps as part of a "population control" plot. [4] In April 2014, Snopes posted a claim that FEMA was marking houses by political affiliation to round people up for these camps. In reality the bright, color coded stickers serve varying purposes for newspaper and mail delivery personnel. [10]

Although they do not mention FEMA specifically, the Oath Keepers list of 10 "Orders We Will Not Obey," contains many of the fears shared by proponents of FEMA conspiracy theories. [11] Proponents often play into racial fear, asserting that FEMA will use "urban gangs" as auxiliaries to ensure order. [9] FEMA conspiracy theories are often woven into larger conspiracy narratives about ushering in a "New World Order", meaning a totalitarian global government. [12]

History

One of the first known references to FEMA concentration camps comes from a newsletter issued by Posse Comitatus 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 concentration 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 had renewed opposition among conservatives 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] Emails from 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 at least 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]

Media attention

Popular Mechanics has published a debunking of some of the various claims proponents of the theory make [14] and FOX News personality Glenn Beck did a 2009 interview with James Meigs, editor-in-chief there, where he walked through a debunking of one purported camp. [30] "This video," Meigs said, "actually dates from about 1995. But like so many of these conspiracy theories, it gets re-cut and re-edited and circulated around the Internet." [25] Bloggers at the Skeptic Project have posted detailed lists where they claim to debunk many of the FEMA camp locations in the U.S. elsewhere. [31]

Newsweek emailed FEMA to inquire about the FEMA camps rumors. Press Secretary Alexa Lopez replied, "We are currently focusing our efforts on providing assistance to disaster survivors, and the ongoing response and recovery efforts in Louisiana. As to your first question, over the years there have been many myths or rumors surrounding FEMA, and I am glad I have the chance to set the record straight with you. There is absolutely no truth to these rumors—they are nothing more than conspiracy theories." [32] One internal FEMA memo advised exmployees: "Most people know us as the agency that responds to natural disasters. Others believe we have a somewhat sinister role. For the latter, it is not realistic to think that we can convince them otherwise and it is advisable not to enter into debate on the subject." [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Emergency Management Agency</span> United States disaster response agency, part of Department of Homeland Security

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders on April 1, 1979. The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. The governor of the state in which the disaster occurs must declare a state of emergency and formally request from the President that FEMA and the federal government respond to the disaster. The only exception to the state's gubernatorial declaration requirement occurs when an emergency or disaster takes place on federal property or to a federal asset—for example, the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or the Space Shuttle Columbia in the 2003 return-flight disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internment</span> Imprisonment or confinement of groups of people without trial

Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply mean imprisonment, it tends to refer to preventive confinement rather than confinement after having been convicted of some crime. Use of these terms is subject to debate and political sensitivities. The word internment is also occasionally used to describe a neutral country's practice of detaining belligerent armed forces and equipment on its territory during times of war, under the Hague Convention of 1907.

Rex 84B, short for Readiness Exercise 1984 Bravo, was a classified scenario and drill developed by the United States federal government to detain large numbers of United States residents deemed to be "national security threats" in the event that the president declared a National Emergency. The scenario envisioned state defense forces rounding up 500,000 undocumented Central American residents and 4,000 American citizens whom the US Attorney General had designated as "national security threats" as part of the secret Continuity of Government program. These people would be detained at 22 military bases in concentration camps run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New World Order (conspiracy theory)</span> Conspiracy theory regarding a totalitarian world government

The New World Order (NWO) is a term used in several conspiracy theories which hypothesize a secretly emerging totalitarian world government. The common theme in conspiracy theories about a New World Order is that a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually achieve world domination and rule the world through an authoritarian one-world government—which will replace sovereign nation-states—and an all-encompassing propaganda whose ideology hails the establishment of the New World Order as the culmination of history's progress. Many influential historical and contemporary figures have therefore been alleged to be part of a cabal that operates through many front organizations to orchestrate significant political and financial events, ranging from causing systemic crises to pushing through controversial policies, at both national and international levels, as steps in an ongoing plot to achieve world domination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Patriot movement</span> American Christian political movement

The Christian Patriot movement is a subset within the broader American Patriot movement that promotes and emphasizes Christian nationalism as their core goal and philosophy. Like the larger movement, it promotes a revisionist interpretation of American history in which the federal government has turned against the ideas of liberty and natural rights expressed in the American Revolution.

The Posse Comitatus is a loosely organized American far-right populist social movement which began in the late 1960s. Its members spread a conspiracy-minded, anti-government, and anti-Semitic message linked to white supremacy aiming to counter what they believe is an attack on their social and political rights as white Christians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sovereign citizen movement</span> Anti-government, anti-taxation conspiracy theorists

The sovereign citizen movement is a loose group of anti-government activists, litigants, tax protesters, financial scammers, and conspiracy theorists based mainly in the United States. Sovereign citizens have their own pseudolegal belief system based on misinterpretations of common law and claim to not be subject to any government statutes unless they consent to them. The movement appeared in the United States in the early 1970s and has since expanded to other countries: the similar freeman on the land movement emerged during the 2000s in Canada before spreading to other Commonwealth countries. The FBI describes sovereign citizens as "anti-government extremists who believe that even though they physically reside in this country, they are separate or 'sovereign' from the United States".

Linda Thompson, born Linda Diane Capps, was an American lawyer and militia movement supporter. In 1993, she quit her job as a lawyer in Indianapolis, Indiana, to start the American Justice Federation, a non-profit group that promoted pro-gun causes through a shortwave radio program, a computer bulletin board system, and sales of its newsletter and videos. She died of a prescription drug overdose in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act</span> US law designed to bring an orderly and systematic means of federal disaster assistance

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">American militia movement</span> Political movement of paramilitary groups in the US

American militia movement is a term used by law enforcement and security analysts to refer to a number of private organizations that include paramilitary or similar elements. These groups may refer to themselves as militia, unorganized militia, and constitutional militia. While groups such as the Posse Comitatus existed as early as the 1980s, the movement gained momentum after standoffs with government agents in the early 1990s. By the mid-1990s, such groups were active in all 50 US states, with membership estimated at between 20,000 and 60,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriot movement</span> American conservative political movement

In the United States, the patriot movement is a term which is used to describe a conglomeration of non-unified right-wing populist and nationalist political movements, most notably far-right armed militias, sovereign citizens, and tax protesters. Ideologies held by patriot movement groups often focus on anti-government conspiracy theories, with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) describing a common belief that "government has been infiltrated and subverted" and is no longer legitimate. The movement first emerged in 1994 in response to what members saw as "violent government repression" of dissenting groups, along with increased gun control and the Clinton administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oath Keepers</span> American far-right organization since 2009

Oath Keepers is an American far-right anti-government militia whose leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the government of the United States, including the transfer of presidential power as prescribed by the United States constitution. It was incorporated in 2009 by founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes, a lawyer and former paratrooper. In 2023, Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 United States Capitol attack, and another Oath Keepers leader, Kelly Meggs, was sentenced to 12 years for the same crime. Three other members have pleaded guilty to this crime, and four other members have been convicted of it.

<i>Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura</i> Television series

Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura is an American television series hosted by Jesse Ventura and broadcast on truTV. It ran for three seasons from 2009 to 2012 and was canceled in 2013.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. The perpetrator, Adam Lanza, fatally shot his mother before murdering 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School, and later committed suicide. A number of fringe figures have promoted conspiracy theories that doubt or dispute what occurred at Sandy Hook. Various conspiracy theorists have claimed, for example, that the massacre was actually orchestrated by the U.S. government as part of an elaborate plot to promote stricter gun control laws.

The Jade Helm 15 conspiracy theories were based on the Jade Helm 15 United States military training exercise which took place in multiple U.S. states between July 15 and September 15, 2015. The exercise, which involved 1,200 personnel from four of the five branches of the U.S. military, was designed to train soldiers in skills needed to operate in overseas combat environments, including maneuvering through civilian populations. The announcements of these training exercises raised concerns and generated conspiracy theories, mostly from Alex Jones, that the exercise was a hostile military takeover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Percenters</span> American and Canadian far-right militia group

The Three Percenters are an American and Canadian far-right anti-government militia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crisis actor</span> Individual who portrays a disaster victim

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pizzagate conspiracy theory</span> Debunked conspiracy theory about alleged child-sex ring

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Conspiracy theories in United States politics are beliefs that a major political situation is the result of secretive collusion by powerful people striving to harm a rival group or undermine society in general.

References

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  5. ↑ Graff, Garret M. "The Secret History of FEMA". Wired. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  6. ↑ Exec. Order No. 10186  (December 1, 1950; in Establishing the Federal Civil Defense Administration in the Office for Emergency Management of the Executive Office of the President). Retrieved on 6 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Exec. Order No. 12127  (March 31, 1979; in Federal Emergency Management Agency). Retrieved on 5 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "The National Flood Insurance Program". fema.gov. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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  14. 1 2 "The Evidence: Debunking FEMA Camp Myths". Popular Mechanics . 26 December 2014. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Amtrak Beech Grove Shop Tour; 13 April 2007, by Chris Guenzler (TrainWeb)". Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  16. ↑ Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (July 2003). Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. NYU Press. p. 290. ISBN   978-0-8147-3155-0. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  17. ↑ Vest, Jason (11 May 1995). "The Spooky World of Linda Thompson; Her Videos Inflame the Militias. Is She the Radical Right or Radically Wrong?". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. ↑ David Harry Bennett (1988). The Party of Fear: From Nativist Movements to the New Right in American History. UNC Press Books. ISBN   978-0-8078-1772-8. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  19. ↑ Blake, Mariah. "You Too Can Learn How to Escape Obama's FEMA Camps for Just $37". motherjones.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  20. ↑ Amato, John. "Michelle Bachmann Warns Of Politically Correct Re-education Camps For Young People". crooksandliars.com. Crooks and Liars. Archived from the original on 22 March 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
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  23. ↑ Reinhard, Chelsea. "County Denounces Conspiracy Theories, Approves Jade Helm 15". sanangelolive.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  24. ↑ Smith, Morgan (15 July 2015). "In Bastrop, Jade Helm Begins With a Whimper". Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  25. 1 2 Potok, Mark; Terry, Don (13 November 2015). "10 right-wing conspiracy theories that have slowly invaded American politics". salon.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  26. ↑ Raymond, Adam. "Witnesses: Stephen Paddock Ranted About a Government Plot to Seize Guns Prior to Las Vegas Shooting". Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  27. ↑ Wilson, Jason (19 May 2018). "New documents suggest Las Vegas shooter was conspiracy theorist – what we know". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
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  30. ↑ Beck, Glen (25 March 2015). "Debunking Web Myths About FEMA Camps". foxnews.com. Fox News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  31. ↑ Winston, Edward L. "FEMA – List of Camps". skepticproject.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  32. ↑ Burleigh, Nina (19 August 2016). "Donald Trump and the FEMA Camps Crowd". newsweek.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
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