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On Tuesday, August 22, Real Raw News reported that Erik Hooks, the Deputy Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was allegedly arrested on Saturday, August 19, by the United States Marines. The news outlet cited that its source was General Eric M. Smith’s office in the US Marines.
As per the report, Erik Hooks was allegedly under arrest on several charges of treason and his 34-page indictment stated that he and his boss, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, ordered FEMA agents serving in Maui in the aftermath of the wildfire to refuse survivors access to food, water, and other civilian relief efforts.
Not only that, the Real Raw article claimed that the FEMA agents were asked to stop “by any means necessary” displaced people from leaving fire-ravaged Lahaina and to dispose of corpses as “discriminately as possible.”
As soon as the news of Erik Hooks' arrest surfaced on social media, netizens began questioning whether it was true. While multiple sources on X have shared the matter, neither FEMA nor the US Marines has so far confirmed the news.
In fact, the Real Raw News website also seems to bear some similarity to the Dunning Kruger Times, a satirical website known for publishing viral and unsubstantial claims. A disclaimer on the Real Raw website reads as follows:
"Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel."
Erik Hooks was allegedly arrested based on a typewritten memo, as per Real Raw News
The article from Real Raw News that has now garnered traction online carried the headline “Military Arrests FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks.” After mentioning the charges against FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks, it also stated that he was allegedly arrested on Saturday night from his Alington home in Virginia, not far from his office, aka, FEMA’s Washington D.C. headquarters.
As per the report, Erik Hooks was allegedly cuffed in the middle of the night when the US Marines arrived, showed him a federal arrest warrant, announced the list of allegations against him, and then took him into custody. He was later sent to a detention center for processing and interrogation.
The now-viral article also mentioned that as per their source from General Eric M. Smith’s office in the United States Marines, Erik Hooks' alleged arrest was based on a central piece of evidence which was a typewritten memo having the signatures of both him and his boss Criswell.
According to Real Raw News, the text on the memo allegedly instructed FEMA supervisors in Maui to either incinerate or discreetly bury the dead.
As per the article, even though the FEMA memo nowhere mentions the execution of civilians in Maui, US Marines has allegedly discovered over 250 corpses with multiple bullet wounds on each, the caliber of which are reportedly consistent with small firearms used by FEMA. The mass grave sites are also reportedly near Lahaina, the town that was worst affected in the Maui fire.
The article also mentions that on Saturday, before Hooks' arrest, FEMA operatives on the ground in Maui were also taken into custody when they were found to be burying dead bodies in a mass cemetery inside Maui Forest Reserve.
Real Raw News also reported that the memo on which the arrest of Erik Hooks was based was dated August 5, three days prior to the wildfire, indicating that FEMA allegedly knew about the inferno from before and it was not a “natural” one.
The article also stated that FEMA allegedly relocated more than 850 D.C. agents to Honolulu on August 6, that too before the catastrophe. As per Real Raw News, their source stated that Hooks will be tried at a federal court soon and that his boss Deanne Criswell is also expected to be arrested in the near future.
In brief, looking at Erik Hook's career
According to FEMA’s official website, Erik Hooks was nominated as the Deputy Administrator of FEMA by President Joe Biden and later confirmed to the post by the US Senate in 2021. Since then, he has assisted Administrator Deanne Criswell in providing executive leadership of FEMA.
His primary responsibilities include effectively coordinating all programs and activities on US soil and helping in their preparation, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation against the risk of any natural calamity, act of terrorism, or any man-made disasters.
Erik Hooks also serves as FEMA’s Chief Operating Officer and is the leader of nearly 20,000 employees of the agency. He is the Key Intelligence Official and is responsible for Homeland Security Information and National Intelligence as well. Besides, he is a voting member of both the Homeland Security Intelligence Council and the Counter Threat Advisory Board.
Before joining FEMA, Hooks was the Secretary of Public Safety and the Homeland Security Advisor in North Carolina and was in charge of the state’s emergency management, national guard, state highway patrol, alcohol law enforcement, state capitol police, adult correction, and juvenile justice, and recovery and resilience, among others.
Hooks was also the Assistant Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the FBI National Executive Institute Associates.
Exploring the FEMA controversy in Maui
In the aftermath of the devastating Maui fire, claims emerged on the internet discouraging natives from accepting relief and aid from FEMA. Many netizens believed that FEMA was allegedly trying to seize the properties of the survivors under false pretenses of help and asking them to sign illegal documents.
Later, however, experts clarified that under no circumstance could FEMA have the power to grab private lands. In fact, on its official website, FEMA debunked the scandal stating:
“Applying for disaster assistance does not grant FEMA or the federal government authority or ownership of your property or land.”
It also provided information on how FEMA operates and stated that if somebody at all signs FEMA disaster assistance papers, at the most, an agency inspector can go and verify the damages caused to their homes and lands, to determine the level of aid the person may be eligible for.
As of last week, FEMA has reportedly granted over $5.6 million in assistance to over 2000 households in Maui and has offered a one-time payment of $700 per household for immediate resources such as food, water, clothing, and transportation.
As per Associated Press (AP), FEMA also provided rental assistance worth $1.6 million for the victims to take shelters in hotels and motels. AP also added that FEMA would need to compensate property owners and did not have the power to take away their lands in an outright manner.
