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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 7 February 2018

Hawaii emergency worker gets threats after misleading photo

By JEN KELLEHER July 2017 to accompany
HONOLULU (AP) — When a story about Hawaii pre-
an erroneous alert was sent paring for a North Korean
out last month telling peo- missile threat. The news
ple in Hawaii that there was agency did not resend it
an incoming ballistic mis- after the false missile alert,
sile, Jeffrey Wong was an but people found it online
island away from the state's and recirculated it on so-
emergency management cial media.
agency office where he Some of their comments
works as an operations of- called for Wong to be shot
ficer. and water-boarded and
Wong helped gather hun- there were also racially de-
dreds of panicked guests rogatory comments with
at his hotel on the island some people questioning
of Kauai to seek shelter in his loyalty to Hawaii and the
a restaurant until he con- U.S., he said. The photo also
firmed the alert was a mis- included a yellow sticky
take. note in the background
Then an Associated Press that appeared to have a
photograph circulated pic- password on it, which peo-
turing Wong months ear- ple circulating the photo
lier at the agency's Hono- after the false alert pointed
lulu operations center on In this Feb. 1, 2018 photo, Jeffrey Wong, current operations officer for the Hawaii Emergency Man- out as a reason to criticize
agement Agency, poses for a photo in Honolulu. He filed a police report after seeing threatening
Oahu island — and people comments online from people who confused him with being the agency employee who mistak- the emergency manage-
mistakenly thought Wong enly sent a missile alert. ment agency — prompting
was the "button-pusher" (AP Photo/Jennifer Kelleher) even more online rage.
who sent out the alert, Fearing for his safety, Wong
wrongly accusing him in He added: "It's very hurt- set the record straight so it was a real attack at the took screen-shots and print-
online comments of caus- ful to be wrongly accused, the public knows he didn't time. Wong, who oversees outs to Honolulu police and
ing widespread panic and wrongly marked as an in- send out the alert. The em- day-to-day operations at filed a police report four
confusion. dividual that's responsible ployee who did has been the agency, said he neither days after the Jan. 13 false
Wong told The Associated for actions that affected, fired. That man, who spoke hired the other man nor alert. “We are safe at home
Press last week he quickly in a negative way, a lot of to reporters separately on did the man report directly in Reno now, but my family
learned how cruel the inter- people within the state of the condition that his name to him. He said the former and I will never forget that
net can be: "A lot of anger, Hawaii and possibly around not be revealed, said he employee's supervisor does day or the man who made
a lot of ignorance came the world." was devastated for caus- report to him. sure we would be as safe
out as a result of that." Wong said he wanted to ing panic but believed at The AP took the photo in as possible.” q
Publix reverses, will cover HIV

prevention drug for workers

By TERRY SPENCER officials Monday to discuss
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) their refusal to cover Tru-
— The Southeast's largest vada for PrEP. The 6-year-
supermarket chain an- old drug is more than 95
nounced Tuesday that it percent effective in pre-
is changing its employee venting the contraction of
prescription plan to cover human immunodeficiency
a drug that helps prevent virus, which can cause
HIV infections, remedying AIDS. It is usually prescribed
an omission that doctors to HIV-negative gay men
and gay rights groups said and other people at higher
was highly unusual. risk of infection.
Publix announced its The issue came to light
change in a Twitter reply again recently when a
to Florida state Rep. Carlos website, The Body, noted
Guillermo Smith, an Orlan- that a former Publix em-
do-area Democrat who ployee had been denied
had met with company coverage for PrEP.q