« … it’s…. just not their day. »
Most of Hawaii woke up to one of the most terrifying warnings imaginable: an official warning coming to all television stations and mobile devices of an incoming ballistic missile.
Ballistic missile threat sent to phones and TV in Hawaii. “This is not a drill.” Looks like Kim Jong numero Un was not lying about that button on his desk. https://t.co/CL26LePzjq pic.twitter.com/UYOtavX0RK
— Encyclopædia Dramatica (@eddotse) January 13,2018
Nearly 40 minutes later, a second message came in:
JUST IN: Nearly 40 minutes elapse between Hawaii ballistic missile false alarm alert and correction https://t.co/GkktNJf5yR pic.twitter.com/eFoU4zIHQq
— The Hill (@thehill) January 13,2018
People quickly lined up to blame President Donald Trump — who was on the golf course at the time — first for the missile warning and then for the fact that he didn’t immediately tweet about it:
Panicked Hawaiians were fleeing for shelter after the false missile alert.
Donald Trump still hasn’t chimed in to provide any leadership at all.
Too busy golfing?
Or doesn’t care because Hawaii is a blue state with a non-white majority?
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) January 13,2018
A terrifying missile alert false alarm in Hawaii reminds us that Trump has edged the world closer to a nuclear holocaust.
https://t.co/TziQFdoujx
— Brent Staples (@BrentNYT) January 13,2018
Jamie Lee Curtis blames Trump for Hawaii’s false missile alarm https://t.co/fodnwclD6I pic.twitter.com/3Q66WmPAJj
— The Hill (@thehill) January 13,2018
But as Tom Nichols pointed out, this was hardly on the president:
I think I have plenty of anti-Trump cred to be able to say that if you’re trying to lay off any part of this Hawaii mistake on Trump, you’re really trying way too hard and should maybe let that go.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 13,2018
In this context, it actually does *not* matter who the POTUS is. This was a state employee scaring the bejeebers out of people accidentally. Any POTUS has more things to do that unscrew why the local civil defense guy screwed up. https://t.co/pU1rmZ7TFe
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 13,2018
Washington Post military writer Dan Lamothe cleared things up further with details on what actually went wrong:
One Navy sailor, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, just told me in a phone interview that he learned that the missile warning today sent was a mistake from a @honolulupolice dispatcher about 10 minutes after it was sent. 1/2
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
The sailor said he called his family in Massachusetts after the alert and let his mom know that he loves her. He thought he might die.
“How can that happen?” he said of the mistake. “How can you allow to that to happen? There’s just an anger that goes with it. » 2/2
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
Lamothe noted that the main concern was not that a mistake had been made, but how long it had taken to correct that mistake:
Feds across board blaming @Hawaii_EMA for false warning. Which is true. They appear to have sent it.
But U. S. government — military, DHS, etc. — also could have corrected record more quickly. Instead, silence on all levels for 38 minutes.
A discussion for later, to be sure.
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
And he did find the beginnings of an explanation:
Army Lt. Col. Derrick Cheng, a PACOM spokesman, said that once the military confirmed that there was no incoming fire, it still needed to touch base with Hawaiian state officials before issuing messages about the incident to make sure it was not confusing the issue even more. 1/2
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
“We had to go through the appropriate checks and balances,” Cheng said. “We at PACOM still need to confirm exactly what happened, and work with our state departments on that. It’s looking through the redundancies, and some of the checks and balances.” 2/2
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
Meanwhile, the mistakes were compounded by officials in Hawaii:
It’s… it’s…. just not their day. https://t.co/aOt49Bc34s
— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) January 13,2018
Yikes.
