U.S. ‘presidential test alert’ sets American phones to buzzing

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent an alert aimed at tens of millions of mobile phones to test a previously unused presidential alert system to warn the public in the event of a national emergency.The test message was originally scheduled for September but pushed back to 2:18 p.m. EDT (1818 GMT) on Wednesday with phones making a loud tone and a special vibration. The message read: “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.” A separate alert on television and radios was issued at 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT).

Federal officials said Trump was not personally involved in sending the alert, which would be sent in the event of a pending missile attack or other national emergency. U.S. cellphone users are not able opt out of presidential alerts.In New York City’s Times Square, reactions to the alert was mixed.Ramon Atwater, said “Do I think it was necessary? Absolutely not. Do I think a lot of the things that are going on with the… president is necessary? No.