Did "NC State police" issue a statement saying that they will start arresting any federal employees trying to "stop or hinder rescue operations"? No, that's not true: A public information officer for the North Carolina State Highway Patrol denounced the claim, calling it "made-up" and "completely unfactual." Lead Stories did not find any evidence of such a statement on the North Carolina State Highway Patrol's official website. An online search did not return any evidence that such a statement was ever released by North Carolina authorities.
The claim appeared in a post on X on October 4, 2024 (archived here). The caption read:
Breaking 🚨🚨🚨
NC State police issue statement that they will start arresting any federal employees trying to stop or hinder rescue operations 💪🇺🇸🇺🇸
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: X screenshot taken on Wed Oct 9 13:20:28 2024 UTC)
The X user does not give any proof that North Carolina police made this alleged statement, such as a link to a statement or a date or an official source.
Lead Stories reached out to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and spoke to Chris Knox, a public information officer for the Highway Patrol. In an October 9, 2024, phone call, Knox said :
I denounce this claim ... It is made-up and completely unfactual.
Knox also wanted to correct the claim's usage of "NC State police":
There is no such thing as the North Carolina state police. Everyone in North Carolina knows we are called the North Carolina State Highway Patrol ...
Lead Stories searched North Carolina's Department of Public Safety website for a press release that would confirm the X post's claim. We found no such statement.
Lead Stories searched for recent news stories mentioning "NC State police" and "arresting federal employees" on Google News, and other than two fact checks, we found no actual news reports, credible sources or documents that would confirm the claim (archived here).
Mountains in western North Carolina were hard hit by deadly and devastating flooding in rains from Hurricane Helene. Rescue and recovery efforts continued as of this writing, with local, state and federal authorities involved.
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims regarding North Carolina are here.
Other Lead Stories fact checks on claims concerning Hurricane Helene are here.
