An emergency alert test proved to have real consequences for members of a religious community after their secret cell phones were outed, and they were ousted.
Given fair warning online, many Americans who were concerned about Wednesday’s nationwide test of the Wireless Emergency Alert system chose to turn off their devices in lieu of a means to opt-out. However, not everyone was readily prepared for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) broadcast, and as a result, at least three members of the Amish community were reportedly shunned.
Taking to TikTok, Eli Yoder, himself a former member of the Christian denomination, explained how several “Amish buddies” whom he had helped acquire cell phones against the rules of their traditional communities, were said to have been discovered during the test that overrode silenced devices.
“Guess what just got a couple of my Amish buddies shunned today by the Amish Church?” Yoder began as he appeared to find some humor in the situation.
@yodertoter40Several Amish men get shunned by the Amish church when the emergency alert system went off. Lol. ♬ original sound – Eli Yoder
“Over the years there’s been quite a few Amish men that reached out and wanted phones, so whenever they request to have a phone I’ll do everything I can to try to get them a phone,” he explained. “Not always can I do so, but in some circumstances, I have been able to get them a phone.”
“Now three of them replied back to me and said today, ‘Hey, I’m gonna have to lay low for a while. I just got shunned,'” Yoder recounted before detailing, “One guy said the elders were coming in his driveway and they were there to speak with him about something that they heard about him, that he might have to get shunned.”
“Right when that was going on, the alert went off and it was in his pocket. Now he’s getting shunned for both. Whatever they were after to shun him and also the cell phone,” the former Amish member said.
Yoder’s tale spoke to the potential for serious consequences that may have resulted from the test as a number of people had warned about, expressing the need for those with secret cell phones to come up with a plan.
Accompanying the unease of the test voiced even by celebrities like John Rich who had said, “I don’t like it one bit,” others had remarked, “You need to change this to not bypass silent features set by people with hidden cell phones for safety. You may be endangering thousands of lives.”
John Rich sounds alarm about creepy ‘special sound’ nationwide emergency plan: ‘I don’t like it one bit’ https://t.co/AXk8SYWzht via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) October 3, 2023
As it happened, there may have been some good from the test as TMZ reported multiple prisons managed to confiscate contraband cell phones from inmates, including two at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York and two at Federal Correctional Institution, Coleman Low in Florida. A source from the Nevada prison system said prisoners were aware of the alert and had likely turned off their devices beforehand.
Yoder’s lack of specifics on which community or communities the supposedly shunned members belonged to sparked debate online as some argued over whether or not Amish are permitted to have cell phones. Still others found humor in the reports.
The funniest article I read all week was about all the Amish that were caught having cell phones due to the emergency alert. That makes me laugh way harder than it should.
— Mike Leiter (@mike_leiter) October 6, 2023
So the emergency test was really just to rid the Amish and prisons of “illegal” cell phones
— . (@CThomasSkov) October 7, 2023
I feel pretty bad about all them Amish kids, prison folk, and rebel kids who aren’t allowed to have cell phones that have hidden cell phones today. Ima pray for y’all
— (@JatedEden) October 4, 2023
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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