A Federal Communications Communication official said Thursday that the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee responsible for issuing the false alarm warning Hawaiians of an incoming ballistic missile is refusing to cooperate with an investigation.
Lisa Fowlkes, the head of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC, told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that the agency is pleased with the cooperation of Hawaiian leadership, but disappointed in one key employee’s refusal to assist the investigation, ABC News reports. (RELATED: Hawaii Employee Who Triggered Missile Alert Gets A New Job)
“Based on current information,” Fowlkes told the FCC, “it appears that the false alert was a result of two failures: First, simple human error. Second, the state did not have safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the human error from resulting in the transmission of a false alert.”
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency issued a statement indicating that it was also disappointed in the employee’s decision to snub investigators. (RELATED: Missile Attack False Alarm Causes Chaos In Hawaii)
“The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has encouraged its employees to cooperate in all ongoing investigations,” the organization stated. “While cooperation is in the end a matter of choice for each individual, we hope that anyone who is not cooperating will reconsider and assist in bringing these matters to a satisfactory conclusion.”
Now that thousands of Hawaiians have had time to reflect on the meaning of life in the wake of seemingly imminent nuclear annihilation, widespread public demands for answers on the causes of one of the worst communications faux pas in American history are reaching a fever pitch. (RELATED: ‘Thank God For This Experience’: How One Hawaiian Family Turned 38 Minutes Of Terror Into A Moment Of Gratitude)
Earlier this week, Hawaii Gov. David Ige briefed reporters on the cause of the 15-minute delay between the false alarm and his subsequent reassurance that his constituents were not, actually, on the receiving end of an intercontinental ballistic missile attack.
The governor’s explanation? He forgot his Twitter password. (RELATED: Hawaii Governor Needed Staff To Access Twitter, Tweet About False Nuclear Alarm)