NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Witnesses reported seeing a group of armed people harassing hurricane relief workers in a remote Tennessee community last weekend, a sheriff said Wednesday, as a man in North Carolina was charged with allegedly threatening relief workers appeared in court in that state.

Although there is no indication that the incidents are related, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is facing rampant disinformation about its response to Hurricane Helene, which made landfall in Florida on September 26 before moving north and left a trail of destruction across six states. Reports of threats against aid workers sparked temporary changes in how FEMA operates in western North Carolina.

In Tennessee, Carter County Sheriff Mike Farley said witnesses reported Saturday that FEMA workers were being harassed by a small group of armed people in the remote community of Elk Mills, near the North Carolina border. There were no arrests, but Farley said the people who showed up were looking to cause trouble.

“It was a little bit of a delicate situation, there were no guns drawn, but they were armed,” Farley told The Associated Press.

Farley said his department set up a 24-hour command post in Elk Mills as a result of the incident. The region is still largely cut off from the rest of the state because Helene damaged and destroyed many bridges and roads.

“It has been great working with the community in this area, but this group is trying to stir up more hatred against the federal government,” Farley said.

Reports emerged over the weekend that FEMA workers supporting the Helene effort could be targeted by a militia, but authorities later said they believed a man arrested and accused of making threats acted alone have. FEMA said operational changes were made to ensure the safety of personnel “out of an abundance of caution,” but workers were back on site Monday.

Helene’s arrival in the Southeast three weeks ago decimated remote Appalachian towns and killed at least 246 people, with just over half of the storm-related deaths occurring in North Carolina. On Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said a task force that fielded calls from concerned relatives during the storm’s aftermath still had a work list of about 90 people who were unaccounted for.

William Parsons, the man accused of making the threats in North Carolina, said he believed social media reports that FEMA was refusing to help people, but that he realized it wasn’t The case occurred when he arrived in hard-hit Lake Lure, a small township about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Asheville.

During a phone interview with WGHP-TV, Parsons, 44, read aloud a social media post he wrote that said, “We the people” were looking for volunteers on Saturday to “manage the FEMA site in Lake “To take over Lure and ship the products to the mountains.”

Parsons, of Bostic, said he believes FEMA is withholding supplies and that his post is a call to action, not violence.

“So we were going to go there and forcibly remove the fence,” he said, but he found a different situation in Lake Lure than he expected. He said he was volunteering for the relief effort that day, but police officials questioned that claim Wednesday.

Capt. Jamie Keever of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office said in an email Wednesday that a trooper called 911 on Saturday after someone overheard Parsons saying that “he was targeting FEMA and not afraid.” in front of law enforcement authorities or soldiers.”

Keever said Parsons was arrested at a grocery store in Lake Lure that was serving as a site for a FEMA bus and a donation site for relief efforts.

“It does not appear that Parsons was involved in any relief efforts at this time, and if so, why was he armed,” Keever said. “I think based on what he said, he was willing to come forward with his firearms and accept the donations.”

According to his arrest warrant, Parsons owned an AR-style rifle and two handguns.

Sheriff’s officials said Parsons was charged with “arming to terrorize the public,” a misdemeanor, and was released after posting bond. The sheriff’s office said initial reports suggested a “truckload of militia members” were involved in the threat, but further investigation revealed that Parsons acted alone.

Parsons told WGHP-TV that he carries a legal weapon on his hip and his legal rifle and pistol in his vehicle.

A public defender was appointed for Parsons during a court appearance Wednesday, WYFF-TV reported. The public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

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Brumfield reported from Baltimore.