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  • 2017-09-21 (xsd:date)
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  • Did the Red Cross Steal Donations in Texas, Empowered by an Obama-Era Executive Order? (en)
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  • On 7 September 2017, Facebook user Gina Nelms broadcast a live video in which she claimed that an Obama-era executive order allowed the Red Cross to steal donated items from churches in Houston, Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey: Nelms earlier described that executive order in this way: This description is similar to the language used in a 26 August 2015 article on the Natural News web site, which reported, falsely, that the executive order had had the effect of nationalizing the supply of food in the United States. (It also bears significant resemblance to the language often used by the sovereign citizen movement.) In her Facebook video, Gina Nelms also claims that the Red Cross had taken the donated items it had purportedly stolen back to its setup shelter in Houston, before sorting through them for items it could sell for profit, and burning the remaining donations in dumpsters: Nelms also encouraged viewers to run the Red Cross out of Texas. Her central claim — that the Red Cross stole donations in Houston and sold some for profit, while burning others — is not supported by any evidence; the Red Cross unequivocally denies it. We could also find no evidence to support Gina Nelms' claim that the Red Cross had threatened clergy members or anyone else during the alleged episode. The claim that the Red Cross was authorized to confiscate property by an Obama-era executive order, however, is entirely false. We sent Nelms a series of questions seeking to establish whether she had personally witnessed the events she described in her video, requesting any evidence that might support her claims, including the names of the churches involved, and asking her to connect us to any other person who might be able to provide such evidence. We did not receive a response. Nelms has also repeatedly stated in several Facebook videos that she has photographs and videos which would prove that her claims about the Red Cross are true, but has so far not provided these photographs and videos. The Red Cross released a statement addressing the matter: A spokesperson also said the Red Cross has so far been unable to validate the claim that someone from the organization had threatened clergy members and others outside a church or churches in Houston: Executive order 13603 was signed by President Barack Obama on 16 March 2012, and it was an update to previous versions of a similar order signed by several presidents in earlier decades, most recently by Bill Clinton in 1994. Contrary to Nelms' claim, it does not empower the government to marshall whatever resources they want. The order essentially mandates that cabinet secretaries and federal agency heads should periodically assess the readiness of the United States' industrial and technological capacity to respond effectively to threats to national security. (Its provisions can be read here.) The order does not authorize the federal government to seize private property. Furthermore, the Red Cross is not part of the federal government anyway. It is a nonprofit humanitarian organization, not a federal agency. So even if EO 13603 did authorize the government to seize property, it would not authorize the Red Cross to seize property. This component of Gina Nelms' claim is therefore wildly false, and appears to be based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Red Cross is and how it operates. (en)
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