Was It Appropriate for a CNN Guest to Spill This New Theory About...
Does Trump Have His ATF Nominee Lined Up?
Village People Founding Member: Yes, I'd Consider Performing 'YMCA' at Trump's Inauguratio...
Why Are Politicians So Weak?
Trump Administration Energy Policy Imperatives
Remember How Kamala Harris Spent $100,000 on a Fake Set for the 'Call...
Deadly Venezuelan Gang Invades Another State
Eric Adams Won't Rule Out Joining the GOP
One Story That Says It All
Thanks to the Elites, College Is Now a Costly Path to Nowhere
Pearl Harbor and the Power of Unity
Kamala Harris and (the Lack of) California Competition
Is This the Golden Age for American Government Reform?
Kavanaugh 2.0
Cut Government, Save Animals: Here Are 3 Awful Agencies and Programs DOGE Can...
Tipsheet

Hawaii's Governor Explains Why He Couldn't Tell Residents Missile Alert Was False Alarm Faster

Hawaiian residents were terrified when a government official accidentally issued an alert earlier this month about an incoming ballistic missile, warning them to seek immediate shelter.

Advertisement

Worse yet, the mistake was not officially corrected by the state for 38 minutes.

Hawaii’s governor explained the reason for his slow response on Monday: he forgot his Twitter password.

“I have to confess that I don’t know my Twitter account log-ons and the passwords, so certainly that’s one of the changes I’ve made,” Democratic Gov. David Ige told reporters.

Minutes after the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency mistakenly sent a missile alert at 8:07 a.m. on Jan. 13 — terrifying residents and visitors across the state — some officials, such as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), rushed to Twitter to reassure everyone it was a mistake.

But one Twitter account was deafeningly silent for 17 minutes: that of Hawaii Gov. David Ige. Though Ige was informed by the state’s adjutant general that the alert was false two minutes after it was sent, he waited until 8:24 a.m. to tweet, “There is NO missile threat.” (The Washington Post)

“I was in the process of making calls to the leadership team both in Hawaii Emergency Management as well as others. The focus really was trying to get as many people informed about the fact that it was a false alert,” Ige said.

Advertisement

He promised he has since saved the log-in information on his cell phone to prevent a similar situation.

“I’ve been putting that on my phone so that we can access the social media directly,” Ige said.

The Federal Communications Commission promised to investigate the incident.

“We have been in close contact with federal and state officials, gathering the facts about how this false alert was issued,” Chairman Ajit Pai 

said in a statement on Sunday. “Based on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of Hawaii did not have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false alert.”

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement