October 9th 2023.
On October 4th, the United States tested the National Emergency Alert System, and while many expressed concern about the potential danger posed to those in abusive relationships, another group was also affected: incarcerated people across the country. TMZ reported that phones were confiscated at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and FCI Coleman Low in Florida, and when they reached out to other prisons in various states, they were not given any answers. The Federal Bureau of Prisons simply stated that they do not elaborate on specific internal security procedures for safety and security reasons.
In the days leading up to the test, social media was abuzz with people warning others about the potential danger of the alert. Jill Anti-Racist & Pro-Trans Rights Weinberger tweeted a reminder to turn off phones, noting that abused individuals may keep secret phones as a lifeline. Others took it a step further and shared conspiracy theories in relation to the test, warning that it was part of a plot to activate latent nanoparticles in people’s bodies.
The test also had a serious impact on the Amish community. According to Dexerto, an ex-Amish man posted to Tik-Tok that several men were shunned by their communities when their phones were discovered due to the alert. Eli Yoder said that these men had to lay low because they were under scrutiny for having the devices, and the price they pay for this can range from community to community, typically meaning that they are no longer accepted by their community.
Experts and FEMA have denied the conspiracy theories surrounding the test, and a spokesman for FEMA, Jeremy Evans, urged Americans to turn their phones back on afterward in case of a national emergency. The national emergency system must be tested once every three years, according to federal law, and the last test occurred on August 11th, 2021.
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