Claim:
Eight illegal aliens living illegally in the U.S. allegedly engaged in acts to damage 51 semitrucks carrying relief supplies for Hurricane Helene victims by cutting tires with metal razor blades, cutting tire treads with sharp metal scissors.
This rating system shows claims are often accepted or disproved upon further review by legal entities such as courts.
Rumors online state that law enforcement officers arrested eight immigrants living illegally in the U.S. who reportedly slashed 51 or more semitruck tires carrying relief supplies for Hurricane Helene victims from Florida to Georgia Tennessee Carolinas Virginia in late September 2024; as of Oct 6 there had been over 230 recorded deaths due to Hurricane Helene alone.
However, no evidence could be found to corroborate this claim. Officials from North Carolina Emergency Response and North Carolina Department of Transportation both told Snopes they did not know of any reports which lend credence to such posts as advertised by these claims. Summing Up This Rumor
This falsehood combined components from two distinct news reports.
One genuine news development occurred when law enforcement in east Tennessee’s Washington County arrested eight men seen in these mug shots for burglarizing homes after Hurricane Helene hit. Officers with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office made these arrests on Sept 28; according to their spokesperson, all eight men reside legally within America on work visas.
At least one news story involved puncturing of tires at a truck stop in Madison County, located in Western Tennessee, sometime prior to September 26 – before Helene made landfall – where one or more individuals punctured approximately 50 tires from eight semitrucks at that stop.
As such, this incident had no relation with transporting relief supplies for Helene. At this writing, no updates from Madison County Sheriff’s Office regarding suspects or arrests had been provided and as a result we have yet to locate details indicating those involved may have entered illegally into America.
Below we provide further details for both stories as well as an incorrect Fox News article that was later corrected.
Story 1: Washington County Burglary Arrests
On Sept 29, Fox Chattanooga in Tennessee reported that eight men had been arrested by Washington County Sheriff’s Office the previous day on charges of looting flood-ravaged communities following Helene, with four charged with aggravated burglary and four with burglary other than dwelling according to documentation posted by their office website. The story included images that surfaced as part of this larger rumor; four individuals charged were listed as individuals charged with looting.
Numerous posts — mostly on X — suggested the eight men lived illegally in America. Another person posted (archived) their story by suggesting, “Just shoot looters on site! Problem resolved! Money saved! Your [sic] welcome.”
Susan Saylor, Public Information Officer for Washington County Sheriff’s Office, informed Snopes by phone that those shown in mug shots are farmworkers from Honduras residing legally with work visas who allegedly attempted to steal jewelry and equipment – something other users shared online as false rumor. Unlike what some users speculated online, however, these arrests didn’t involve drug cartel members or Venezuelan gang members and instead occurred due to Helene herself: this wasn’t some random looter activity.” Saylor claimed the incident took place along Nolichucky River near where Helene lived at least.
Story 2: Madison County Tire-puncturing Incident
On Sept 30th, Nashville’s NBC affiliate station WSMV-TV reported on an actual tire damage incident at an actual TA Travel Center truck stop located within Denmark Town, where Madison County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded shortly before 8AM that morning to address any tire-puncturing that took place there. According to their article:
Deputies reported finding several small punctures on each tire with puncture marks matching one another; according to the sheriff’s office, one truck had all 18 tires deflated and needed inflation.
One truck driver reported to deputies that, upon exiting the parking lot of a travel center, his right passenger-side tire “completely disengaged from its wheel.”
Eight semitrucks were involved, damaging 56 tires; according to the sheriff’s office, each tire’s estimated repair cost stands at $500.
Jeff Walls, Director of Operations and Communications with Madison County Sheriff’s Department told us by phone, that one rumor they have been fighting was that trucks involved were transporting relief materials such as water to victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina – yet that couldn’t possibly have happened since this [incident] took place before she did.” Additionally, no suspects or arrests had yet been announced by authorities.
Misleading and Corrected Fox News Article On Oct. 3, Fox News published an article regarding a tire-puncturing incident in Madison County that resulted in eight semitruck tires being punctured at Tennessee truck stops reportedly by deputies, according to snapshots captured by Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine resource (which allows users to explore older versions of websites), with headline reading “80 semitruck tires slashed at Tennessee truck stop,” when actually, only eight semis had their tires punctured (which had already occurred before this article was posted online). This report should have also been accurate.”
Fox News has since amended their story on FoxNews.com by including an editor’s note at the bottom, explaining: “This original version incorrectly reported eight trucks were damaged according to authorities; therefore this story has been amended accordingly.”
Though Fox News made corrections on their site, other websites still displayed an incorrect account of events despite these. Publications like AllSides.com, AOL.com, MSN.com and NewsBreak displayed original headlines or stories and have yet to make changes with corrective material.
