The Federal Bureau of Inquiry announced this afternoon that
this morning’s emergency broadcast notice on Houston television stations was
the result of an attack on the emergency broadcast system. According to Johnathan
Quest, FBI spokesman: “The FBI has just started their investigation of the
incident, but our initial finding is that the message was inserted into the
system by an outside agency not connected with the US government.”
The following information was broadcast as a text message
scrolling across Houston area television screens:
“The federal government was just
ordered to release all illegal immigrants detained at the Houston Immigrant
Detention Center due to four reported cases of COVID-19 in the confined
population. The 250 people that will be released this afternoon have all been
exposed to, or have tested positive for, COVID-19.”
Miriam Ferguson, the Director of the Texas Emergency Services
Bureau (TESB), is responsible for the State implementation of the Emergency
Broadcast System. She said that access to the computers that control the system
is very closely restricted, but that they are connected to the Federal EBS
network via the internet.
James P. Henderson, Director of the HIDC, confirmed that
there are currently 250 people confined at the Center. “None of the current
detainees is reporting any symptoms of upper respiratory related illnesses,
much less COVID-19,” Henderson told reporters; “No detainees have been tested
for COVID-19, but in light of today’s incident, I am ordering all detainees be
tested for the disease. I will publicly report the results of all of the tests
when I have them.”
