A lot of anger can come from Internet users when they decide to find a scapegoat. Hawaiian emergency operations center employee, Jeffrey Wong, is now experiencing it to the full extent, as he receives death threats every day.
It all started when netizens began combing the internet in search of any photos of emergency center employees in order to find whom to blame for the false missile attack alarm, as officials kept the name of the “button-pusher” in secret. They managed to find an old photo taken by the Associated Press in June 2017 prior to the false alarm with Jeffrey Wong on it and decided that he was the man to blame for their unpleasant experience.
READ MORE: Hawaii Emergency Worker on False Missile Alarm: 'It's Been Hell for Me'
The problem is that Wong was on another island when the emergency center started broadcasting the false alarm. He was on the island of Kauai, helping local hotel guests to reach the nearest shelter. And now it’s the only island out of 7 inhabited ones, which knows the truth. That hasn’t stopped the residents of the other 6 islands from sending him threats, like shooting or water-boarding him. The man has already contacted local police and they are currently looking into this matter.
The only encouragement Wong probably gets these days is from the visitors of that hotel who, though, long time ago left for their homes, send him their gratitude for his brave actions during the crisis.
READ MORE: Hawaii Emergency Management Chief Resigns Over False Missile Alert
On January, 13 the residents of Hawaii started receiving via various sources an alert about an incoming ballistic missile attack, which sent people into panic until 30 minutes later when officials started issuing announcements that alarm was set off by mistake. The observatory emergency center on Hawaii closely watches any ballistic missile launches as the islands are well within the range of North Korean rockets.