by Rambuncle » Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:11 pm
<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=17178">FEMA muzzling trailer-park residents</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>MORGAN CITY, La. — Residents of trailer parks set up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house hurricane victims in Louisiana aren't allowed to talk to the press without an official escort, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate reported.<br><br>In one instance, a security guard ordered an Advocate reporter out of a trailer during an interview in Morgan City. Similar FEMA rules were enforced in Davant, in Plaquemines Parish.<br><br>FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Rodi wouldn't say whether the security guards' actions complied with FEMA policy, saying the matter was being reviewed. But she confirmed that FEMA does not allow the news media to speak alone to residents in their trailers.<br><br>"If a resident invites the media to the trailer, they have to be escorted by a FEMA representative who sits in on the interview," Rodi told the newspaper for its July 15 report. "That's just a policy."<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Pack em in, shut em up, ship em out. <p><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things - Terry Pratchett, Jingo</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>