The employee who sent out a false missile alert in Hawaii earlier this month said he honestly thought the island was under attack.

In an interview with multiple news outlets for the first time, the man who accidentally triggered widespread panic said he's been made a scapegoat by Hawaii Emergency Management and the state.

'I heard: "This is not a drill." I didn't hear "exercise" at all. I'm really not to blame in this. It was a system failure,' he told NBC Nightly News on Friday.

He said the attention needs to be focused on bigger, systemic issues.

'It's been utter hell for me and my family,' he said.

The unnamed man said he is still receiving death threats and was fired after the state completed its investigation into the January 13 incident.

The employee (with his back to the camera) who sent out a false missile alert in Hawaii earlier this month said he honestly thought the island was under alert

In its report, released on Tuesday, the state said the drill on January 13 started as previous ones had.

A recorded Pacific Command message was played over loudspeakers at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency that began 'exercise, exercise, exercise,' then warned of an incoming ballistic missile and said, 'This is not a drill.'

As soon as he realized his error, the man says he 'just wanted to crawl under a rock.'

'It was incredibly difficult for me, very emotional,' he said, adding that his team was immediately flooded with phone calls from frantic citizens

The unnamed man said he is still receiving death threats and was fired after the state completed its investigation into the January 13 incident

Hawaiians believed that they were under attack for 40 minutes before the state

According to the internal investigation, the so-called 'button pusher' had confused drills with real-world events twice before and other employees knew the missile drill wasn't real.

However, the former state worker said those two previous incidents were essentially 'paperwork' issues, not errant alerts.

The preliminary report from the Federal Communications Commission found the drill was 'run without sufficient supervision' and that 'there were no procedures in place to prevent a single person from mistakenly sending a missile alert from the State of Hawaii.'

Hawaii Governor David Ige gives a press conference following the fake missile threat. The preliminary report found the drill was 'run without sufficient supervision'

'There was no requirement in place for a warning officer to double check with a colleague or get sign off from a supervisor before sending such an alert,' the report said.

In the wake of the incident, the head of the Emergency Management Agency and its executive officer have also resigned.

'I can't say I wouldn't do anything different based on what I saw and heard,' the button pusher told NBC News correspondent Jacob Soborof.

'I feel very badly for what's happened, the panic, the stress people felt, all the hurt and the pain.'

Several Twitter users reacted with sarcasm to the interview (above)

Several Twitter users reacted with sarcasm to the interview.

'How does a low level button pusher have the authority to send the message on his own. Why is he not fired?' tweeted one.

The Hawaiian button pusher who falsely declared an imminent by nuclear missile strike says he is getting death threats; but clearly, not irony,' wrote another.