- The unnamed man says he honestly believed that the island was under attack
- He has been receiving death threats since making the grave error on January 13
- Hawaiians believed they were going to be attacked for almost 40 minutes
- The state eventually set another warning that the threat had just been a drill
- An investigation revealed that the worker had allegedly confused drills and real-world threats twice before
The employee who sent out a false missile alert in Hawaii earlier this month said he honestly thought the island was under alert.
In an interview with multiple news outlets for the first time, the man who accidentally triggered widespread panic said he’s been made a scapegoat by Hawaii Emergency Management and the state.
‘I heard: “This is not a drill.” I didn’t hear “exercise” at all. I’m really not to blame in this. It was a system failure,’ he told NBC Nightly News on Friday.
He said the attention needs to be focused on bigger, systemic issues.
‘It’s been utter hell for me and my family,’ he said.
The unnamed man said he is still receiving death threats, was fired after the state completed its investigation into the January 13 incident.
The employee who sent out a false missile alert in Hawaii earlier this month said he honestly thought the island was under alert.
In its report, released onTuesday, the state said the drill on January 13 started as previous ones had.
A recorded Pacific Command message was played over loudspeakers at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency that began ‘exercise, exercise, exercise,’ then warned of an incoming ballistic missile and said, ‘This is not a drill.’
The unnamed man said he is still receiving death threats, was fired after the state completed its investigation into the January 13 incident
Hawaiians believed that they were under attack for 40 minutes before the state
According to the internal investigation, the so-called ‘button pusher’ had confused drills with real-world events twice before and that other employees knew the missile drill wasn’t real.
Howoever, the former state worker said those two previous incidents were essentially ‘paperwork’ issues, not errant alerts.
In the wake of the incident, the head of the Emergency Management Agency and its executive officer have also resigned.