On Aug. 22, 2023, Real Raw News published an article claiming that U.S. Marine Corps arrested Erik Hooks, the deputy administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in connection with the agency's response to wildfires that ravaged parts of Maui the previous week.
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The article said:
Military Arrests FEMA Deputy Administrator Erik Hooks
United States Marines on Saturday arrested Deputy Administrator of FEMA Erik Hooks on charges of treason, alleging in a 34-page indictment that Hooks and his boss, Deanne Criswell, ordered agents in Maui to deny fire victims food and water, to inhibit civilian relief efforts, to stop "by any means necessary" displaced persons from exiting fire-ravaged Lahaina, and to dispose of bodies as "discriminately as possible," a source in General Eric M. Smith's office told Real Raw News.
The arrest occurred Saturday night at Hooks' home in Arlington, Virginia, not far from FEMA's D.C. headquarters. The Marines cuffed Hooks while he was sleeping, showed him a military arrest warrant listing the charges against him, and carted him off to a holding center for processing.
At least one other website republished the article word for word. Meanwhile, social media posts across platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter), Reddit, Facebook, and TikTok repeated the story about Hooks, citing Real Raw News as its source.
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