AP Photo/Makiya Seminera

An employee who worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was fired Saturday after telling workers engaged in relief efforts after Hurricane Milton in Florida that they should not help at homes with Trump signs in construction sites , said the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Head of FEMA Deanne Criswell announced that the employee had been fired after the story was first reported Friday by conservative media outlet The Daily Wire.

The website reported that “a FEMA supervisor told workers in a message to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida, to identify residents who might qualify for federal aid, reveal internal messages seen by the Daily Wire.

Criswell, who served as FEMA Director since 2021, confirmed reporting in a statement on Saturdayy that she posted on social media in which she said the agency’s “core values” had been violated. Criswell shared a Fox News article about X, writing:

More than 22,000 FEMA employees embrace FEMA’s core values ​​every day and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors. Recently, a FEMA employee strayed from these values ​​when she advised her survivor assistance team not to visit homes displaying signs supporting President-elect Trump. This is a blatant violation of FEMA’s core values ​​and principles of helping people regardless of political affiliation.

It was reprehensible. I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people: this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct. We take seriously our mission to help everyone before, during and after disasters. This employee was terminated and we referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure this does not happen again.

The agency is opening an investigation into the incident, New York Times noted Saturday, and extend your hand to hurricane victims whose homes may have been bypassed to get relief.

The Daily Wire reported that the directives against aiding Americans who supported Trump were sent in a group text to a Department of Homeland Security overcapacity force team.

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