Did 8 'Illegal' Immigrants Slash Tires on 51 Semitrucks Carrying Hurricane Relief Supplies? (2024)

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A rumor circulating online claims that law enforcement officers arrested eight immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally who allegedly slashed the tires of 51 or more semitrucks. The rumor said the trucks carried relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Helene, which struck Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia in late September 2024. As of Oct. 6, the storm's death toll stood at over 230 known deceased persons.

For example, one user on X posted (archived) an image of eight mug shots with the caption, "Fifty one semitrucks had their tires slashed en route to help victims of Hurricane Helene. Why are political activists doing this?" Then, the user continued in a new paragraph, "These are the looters who stole food and medical supplies in North Carolina and Tennessee. All illegal." That post received more than 32,000 likes. Other users on Facebook, Threads, TikTok and X posted this rumor in the form of a meme (archived), text or video.

However, we found no evidence to confirm the veracity of this rumor. Officials in both North Carolina and Tennessee, speaking on behalf of the Tennessee Highway Patrol, North Carolina Emergency Response and North Carolina Department of Transportation, have thus far told Snopes they know of no reports that might lend credibility to the posts promoting these claims.

Summary

This rumor misleadingly mixed elements from two completely different news stories.

One of the genuine news developments pertained to law enforcement officers in east Tennessee's Washington County arresting the men visible in the aforementioned mug shots for burglarizing homes following Helene. Officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office made the arrests on Sept. 28. A spokesperson for the sheriff's office told us all eight men live in the U.S. legally on work visas.

A completely separate news story involved the puncturing of tires at a truck stop in Madison County, located in the western part of Tennessee. The incident reportedly occurred on or before the morning of Sept. 26 —prior to Helene making landfall in Florida — and involved one or more people slashing just over 50 tires on eight semitrucks.

In other words, the incident had nothing to do with transporting Helene relief supplies. As of this writing, the Madison County Sheriff's Office had no updates for us regarding suspects or arrests. As such, we have yet to locate any details indicating the incident involved persons residing in the U.S. illegally.

Below, we document further details about both of these unrelated stories, as well as information about a relevant and misleading Fox News article that was later corrected.

Story 1: Washington County Burglary Arrests

On Sept. 29, Fox Chattanooga in Tennessee reported that the Washington County Sheriff's Office arrested eight men on the previous day, for allegedly looting the flood-ravaged community following Helene. The news story featured the same mug shots that turned up as part of the larger rumor. Documentation on the sheriff's office website said four of the men were charged with aggravated burglary and the remaining four with burglary other than dwelling.

Numerous online posts —mainly on X —claimed the eight men resided in the U.S. illegally. Another person posted (archived) of the story, "Just shoot looters on site! Problem solved. Money saved! Your [sic] welcome."

Susan Saylor, public information officer for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, told Snopes by phone that the men in the mug shots are farmworkers from Honduras who all reside in the U.S. legally on work visas. She specifically mentioned jewelry and equipment in terms of what the men were alleged to have attempted to steal. She noted that, despite other rumors shared by users, the men did not belong to a drug cartel or Venezuelan gang. She also clarified to drive the point home that, yes, the alleged looting arrests happened as a result of Helene, adding, "This wasn't just some random looter thing." Regarding the location of the incident, Saylor said it occurred along the Nolichucky River.

Story 2: Madison County Tire-puncturing Incident

On Sept. 30, the NBC affiliate WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, reported on a genuine tire-damage incident. The article said Madison County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a call at around 8:00 a.m. at a TA Travel Center truck stop in the town of Denmark:

Deputies said they found several small punctures in the outer sidewall of each of the tires and that they all had the same puncture marks. One of the trucks had all 18 of its tires deflated, according to the sheriff's office.

One truck driver told deputies that while exiting the parking lot of the travel center, the right passenger-side tire "completely" detached from the wheel.

In total, eight semitrucks were impacted and 56 tires in all were damaged. The sheriff's office said the price tag of each tire is estimated at $500.

Jeff Walls, director of operations and communications with Madison County Sheriff's Department, told us by phone, "One of the rumors that we have been battling, especially in the national news, is that the trucks that were affected were carrying relief materials such as water and things like that to the victims of Helene and all that in North Carolina. And that is impossible in this case because this [incident] actually happened before [Helene]." He also said they had no updates regarding suspects or arrests.

Misleading and Corrected Fox News Article

On Oct. 3, Fox News reported an article on its website about the Madison County tire-puncturing incident. According to a snapshot of the article captured by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (a resource that allows users to research previous versions of websites), the headline originally read, "80 semitrucks tires slashed at Tennessee truck stop, deputies say." The story misleadingly said that "more than 80 semitrucks reportedly had their tires slashed." Again, the matter involved eight semitrucks, not 80.

Fox News has since corrected the story on FoxNews.com and added an editor's note to the bottom of the article, reading, "The original version of this story misstated the number of trucks affected. It has been amended to state that a total of eight trucks were damaged, according to authorities."

However, even with that correction on the Fox News website, other websites syndicating part or all of the article still displayed the original and incorrect story. For example, AllSides.com, AOL.com, MSN.com, NewsBreak.com and other publications and users displayed the original headline and possibly the original story, too, and have not yet updated their pages with any corrected material.

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