In Mississippi last month, a group of 300 people gathered to assist in clean up after a tornado ripped it's way through. As the volunteers were in the process of removing the fallen trees and loosened brush, a FEMA cameraman approached and asked if they could film their efforts. The cameraman needed to garner footage of clean up crews but had one reservation before filming; they had to remove their Salvation Army t-shirts because it's a religious based organization, and they had done 'hundreds of stories on religious based organizations' in the past and wanted something different. Since the initial Salvation Army shirts were not up to par for the cameraman, they then switched their shirts. The second shirt they used had another problem, it contained a message from their Baptist church. The FEMA cameraman wasn't satisfied because of its message and asked them to change once again. On the third shirt, he finally agreed to do the video. The Salvation Army clean-up crew felt they were being discriminated against and contacted Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), who then went on Fox and Friends, in which he conducted this interview:
The head of FEMA called the Congressman and explained that his conduct was not their policy, and that particular videographer had been terminated.
On May 18 Craig Fugate, the director of FEMA, told Fox News in response to the story:
"The photographer in question was absolutely wrong and their actions and in no way reflect FEMA's policies and priorities. We are proud of the work that is done by our volunteer and faith based partners, and we are proud to work side by side with them in disaster recovery efforts across the country."
However, the Congressman explains there was a second FEMA employee on site who did nothing to stop the initial request asked by the cameraman. This was apparently the case because the employees were given strict instructions to stay away from faith-based groups in their country, which prompted them to move over to another county in which time this incident occurred.