The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency employee who sent out an erroneous warning of an incoming ballistic missile on Jan. 13 is refusing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the Federal Communications Commission.
During the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Lisa Fowlkes, head of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau at the FCC, said she is “disappointed” that the person who mistakenly transmitted the alert was not cooperating.
“We hope that person will reconsider,” Fowlkes said.
“Federal, state, and local officials need to work together to identify and fix them,” Fowlkes said during the hearing.
The alert, which was sent to cellphones, televisions, and radio stations in the early morning, caused statewide panic in which people abandoned their cars and homes to seek shelter.
The alert was not officially retracted for 38 minutes, though some state and local officials did get the word out sooner.
