A Frightening Proposition
“FEMA’s coffins for the American people,” one video opens, with a shot of what appears to be a guarded prison facility. A computer scrambled male voice-over tells viewers that there are currently 600 unoccupied prison camps across America. The camps, he claims, are run by FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and are designated for containment of American citizens in the event of Martial Law. When the time is right, he says, the US Government will use predetermined color-coded lists to decide who will be shot immediately and who will be allowed to stay in the camps. The "red list," mostly made up of activists, pastors, and community leaders, is slated for execution.
Sound crazy? To most Americans, this and similar videos seem like the type of groundless fiction studied by conspiracy theorists, UFO fanatics, and extremists with a little too much time on their hands. But could this really happen in America?
FEMA's Dark History
Since its creation by President Ford in 1976 (then called FEPA,) FEMA’s key purpose has been to establish government control of energy and financial resources in the case of a national emergency. To understand the story behind REX 84 and why fringe groups with names like Friends of Liberty and The People’s Voice have developed a seemingly irrational fear of our federal agency in charge of disaster relief, one must look back to the Reagan administration. REX 84 refers to Readiness Exercise 1984, an emergency preparedness test conducted to determine how government agencies would handle a national state of emergency. This disaster practice-test included authorization for arrests and large-scale movements of US citizens as well as the imposition of martial (or military) rule.
According to researcher Diana Reynolds, author of “The Rise of the National Security State: FEMA and the NSC,” while contingency plans for disasters have existed since World War II, during the Reagan years the focus of national security moved away from disaster relief and toward expansion of police powers, continuity of government, and the controlling of political dissent. In addition to giving FEMA vastly expanded executive emergency powers, Reagan appointed retired National Guard General Louis O. Giuffrida as the new director. American Presidency Project says that Giuffrida “had a lengthy career as a military and civilian expert in crime prevention and investigation; industrial defense; physical security; civil disturbances and disasters; confinement and rehabilitation responsibilities.”
Operation Cable Splicer
Giuffrida had developed plans during his time at the Naval War College to combat “a national uprising by black militants” providing for the detention of “at least 21 million American Negroes” in “assembly centers or relocation camps.” According to Reynolds, as governor of California, Reagan asked Giuffrida to design Operation Cable Splicer, a martial law plan for the detention of anti-Vietnam war activists. At Reagan’s request, Giuffrida also founded California Special Training Institute, a military and police school. Many of the high-level employees that Giuffrida hired for FEMA were recruited from this training facility. Rex-84 Alpha Explan was conducted on April 5-18 with anticipation of using military rule to put down large scale civil strikes and demonstrations.
On July 5, 1987, an article in the Miami Herald detailed Oliver North’s involvement in developing REX 84 as FEMA’s contact in the National Security Council. The Herald had obtained a copy of a formal letter of protest written by Attorney General William Smith. Alarmed by the implications of a plan authorizing a military takeover, Smith stated, “This department and others have repeatedly raised serious policy and legal objections to the creation of an ‘emergency czar’ role for FEMA.” A memo written by North and also leaked to the Herald listed “national opposition to a U.S. military invasion abroad” as a possible justification for this legislation.
Modern Implications
So should Americans fear our disaster relief organization or the possibility of secret internment camps as means of political oppression? My next article will explore the possibilities for FEMA and the far-reaching implications of these laws.
References:Chardy, Alfonso. (5 July 1987). "Reagan Aides and the Secret Government." The Miami Herald.
Farrell, Maureen. (13 February 2006). "Detention Camp Jitters." BuzzFlash.com
Reynolds, Diana. (Winter 1990, Issue #33). "The Rise of the National Security State: FEMA and the NSC," CovertAction Information Bulletin.
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