Hawaii Man Says He’s Devastated About Sending Missile Alert
UPDATED: The fired Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee contradicted parts of what his supervisors have said.
The former Hawaii state worker who sent a false missile alert last month says he鈥檚 devastated for his part in sending panic across the islands.
Ever since those fateful mouse clicks, eating has been a struggle and sleep often only comes with the help of pills. He鈥檚 sought counseling and his personal relationships are strained. He鈥檚 not suicidal, he says, but he鈥檚 taking life 鈥渄ay-to-day.鈥
鈥淪ome days are better than others,鈥 the man in his 50s said Friday. He spoke to reporters on the condition that he not be identified because he fears for his safety after receiving threats.
Still, he insists that he was 鈥100 percent sure鈥 at the time that the attack was real, that he followed his training, and that ultimately the state鈥檚 emergency management leadership is to blame for what happened.
Civil Beat agreed to the request to withhold his identity because of the man’s safety concerns and the significance of the incident.
He says the on-duty call he received Jan. 13 didn鈥檛 sound like a drill. However, state officials say other workers clearly heard the word 鈥渆xercise鈥 repeated several times.
Throughout 贵谤颈诲补测鈥檚 interview, which took place in his attorney鈥檚 downtown Honolulu office, the man repeatedly said he felt 鈥渟ickened鈥 when he realized it was just a drill. He repeatedly said it felt like a 鈥渂ody blow.鈥
Contradictory Accounts
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency fired him last week.
The man said he worked at the agency for more than 11 years. His superiors, meanwhile, have said they knew for years that he had problems performing his job.
The worker had mistakenly believed drills for tsunami and fire warnings were actual events, and colleagues were not comfortable working with him, state emergency leaders and investigators said.
His supervisors said they counseled him but kept him in a position that had to be renewed each year. The ex-worker disputed that, saying he wasn鈥檛 aware of any performance problems.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really recall anything like that,鈥 he said of the tsunami and fire drills. 鈥淚 know certainly nothing related to drills 鈥 there鈥檚 no documentation about that, nothing I signed off on.鈥
While working at the state warning site in a former bunker in Honolulu鈥檚 Diamond Head crater Jan. 13, the man said, his shift took a call that sounded like a real warning from U.S Pacific Command.
One of his coworkers answered the phone and didn鈥檛 immediately put it on speaker, so he did not hear the first part of the message, which repeated 鈥渆xercise鈥 three times, he said.
A supervisor made the call from outside the hallway and played a recording of someone else into the phone 鈥 an unfamiliar voice 鈥 the man said.
That鈥檚 slightly different from an account given earlier this week by Brig. General Bruce Oliveira, who led an internal investigation. Oliveira said a supervisor recited a message over the phone and ended by repeating the words, 鈥渆xercise, exercise, exercise.鈥
Nonetheless, the co-worker said he didn鈥檛 hear it was a drill. His co-workers didn鈥檛 immediately indicate it was a drill either, he said.
鈥淭he energy in the room, my coworkers were excited,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey went about their tasks like it was real. I was convinced it was real.鈥
Less than five seconds after he clicked to select the missile alert from a drop-down menu, the phone inside the warning point room, about the size of a small office conference room, started to ring, he said.
The man also contested Oliveira鈥檚 findings that he 鈥渟eemed confused鈥 and didn鈥檛 help in the immediate aftermath.
鈥淓veryone was working, contributing, answering the phones and doing what we could to remedy the situation and make it a little better at least,鈥 he said, folding his arms and rubbing his hands together as he recounted the incident.
As the day went on 鈥渕y coworkers weren鈥檛 talking to me about it,鈥 he added. 鈥淲e were all shocked.鈥
Organizational Problems
Problems at the agency went beyond a single employee.
Federal and state reports say the agency had a vague checklist for missile alerts, allowing workers to interpret the steps they should follow differently.
Managers didn鈥檛 require a second person to sign off on alerts before they were sent, and the agency lacked any preparation on how to correct a false warning.
Those details emerged Tuesday in Oliveria鈥檚 report, as well as a Federal Communications Report on how the agency mistakenly blasted cellphones and broadcast stations with the missile warning.
It took nearly 40 minutes for the agency to figure out a way to retract the false alert on the same platforms it was sent to.
鈥淭he protocols were not in place. It was a sense of urgency to put it in place as soon as possible. But those protocols were not developed to the point they should have,鈥 Oliveira said at a news conference.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Administrator Vern Miyagi resigned as the reports were released. Officials revealed that the employee who sent the alert was fired Jan. 26.
Several hours after the false alert, Miyagi said that the worker felt terrible about what happened.
On Friday, the ex-worker said that Miyagi 鈥渄idn鈥檛 know the story because he didn鈥檛 talk to me.鈥
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a major issue,鈥 the man added. 鈥淚n the beginning (Miyagi) didn鈥檛 get the right information.鈥 Further, he said, no one at the agency talked to him until three days after the incident, when he had to put a statement in writing.
Last week, FCC Homeland Security Bureau Chief Lisa Fowlkes testified before a Senate panel that the worker was not cooperating with their investigation.
On Friday, the ex-worker said he was out sick for two weeks after the false missile alert, and that the FCC 鈥渕isconstrued鈥 that as him being unwilling to cooperate.
He added that he was 鈥渟urprised鈥 and 鈥渂ewildered鈥 to read that co-workers were not comfortable with having him as a supervisor, part of a two-person team, or even as a member of the state warning apparatus in general.
鈥淚鈥檝e always been a team player.聽 My co-workers should have known that,鈥 he said. He said that he would occasionally switch work shifts to help co-workers. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see why all of a sudden they would say these things.鈥
HEMA鈥檚 executive officer, Toby Clairmont, said Wednesday that he stepped down because it was clear action would be taken against agency leaders after the alert.
Another employee was being suspended without pay, officials said.
HEMA鈥檚 State Warning Point had conducted 26 prior internal drills on the ballistic missile alert before the drill went awry Jan. 13. The man said he took part in about five of those drills.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
