In the summer of 2017, Hurricane Harvey, a monstrous Category 4 storm, cleaved a path of destruction through the Houston metropolitan area, flooding roads and shattering homes as 130mph winds lashed coastal regions of the Lonestar state. Counties went dark, and lives were ruined. The storm displaced 30,000 residents and caused $124bn in damages, making it the costliest tropical cyclone on record. No sooner had the winds subsided and the rain stopped than FEMA came rolling into town, an estimated 5,000 personnel, among them a throng of armed agents whose assignment had nothing to do with saving lives.
It was the actions of those men that interested Vice Adm. Darse E. Crandall when Brock Long’s military tribunal resumed Wednesday evening.
He addressed the three female officers JAG had picked to hear evidence against Long. “When President Trump heard that FEMA agents had ransacked flooded homes, stolen private property, and were physically and emotionally abusive to a population that was suddenly very vulnerable, he summoned the defendant to the White House and demanded answers. The defendant, naturally, played dumb and said he didn’t know what President Trump was talking about. And when Trump showed him evidence, the defendant blamed it ‘a few rogue agents.’” President Trump gave the defendant a reasonable offer: deliver the responsible parties within a day or pay the price for their crimes himself. We know this as a fact; we have a sworn deposition from President Trump attesting to it.
“Did the defendant hunt down the rogue agents?” Adm. Crandall continued. “No, he did not. Eight hours after seeing Trump, Long was on a flight to Argentina, where he lived until June 19, when he was caught sneaking back into the U.S.”
The admiral took a sip of water. “It would shock me if he’s willing to open his mouth with an explanation.” He paused for 30 seconds, then said, “I guess not.”
Long sat quietly at the defense table, his only comfort a pitcher of water whose ice cubes melted away as quickly as his freedom was. His eyes had stopped following the admiral’s movements and were now closed.
“Or maybe he can explain to this commission what a FEMA barge is,” the admiral said.
“That’s a myth,” Long said drowsily without opening his eyes. “They’re hospital boats. Conspiracists like to call them FEMA or prison barges.”
Admiral Crandall showed the panel images of a barge anchored near Port Aransas, taken after Harvey’s eyewall passed over land. He also showed satellite imagery of the same barge tailing the storm into port, just beyond the outer bands. The admiral’s final images were of uniformed FEMA agents corralling what appeared to be homeless persons onto Zodiac rigid rafts at gunpoint, ostensibly transport to the barge.
“What happened to those people, detainee Long? This wasn’t the work of a few rogue agents, was it? This was a major operation,” Adm. Crandall said.
Long didn’t speak again.
The admiral asked the panel to find Long guilty of treason, and they did, and sentenced him to hang by the neck until dead.
Admiral Crandall set a date of execution for July 10.