Two Native Hawaiian males who have been discovered responsible of a hate crime for attacking a white home-owner in Maui has been sentenced in federal courtroom.
On Nov. 17, 2022, a federal jury discovered Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 32, and Levi Aki, Jr., 33, responsible of a hate crime for what prosecutors referred to as “racially motivated assaults” on Christopher Kunzelman, a white home-owner, in Maui in 2014.
On Thursday, Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced to 6 and a half years in jail whereas Aki acquired 4 years and two months for his or her racially motivated assault.
The defendants beforehand barged into Kunzelman’s property to demand he depart the village, threatening to tie him up and make him “go lacking” if he refused.
Kunzelman was overwhelmed within the head with a shovel and kicked within the ribs, inflicting him to undergo a concussion, two damaged ribs and head trauma.
“It was clearly a hate crime from the very starting,” Kunzelman’s spouse Lori instructed The Related Press. “The entire time they’re saying issues like, ‘You will have the mistaken pores and skin coloration. No ‘haole’ is ever going to stay in our neighborhood.’”
Assistant Lawyer Basic Kristen Clarke of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division mentioned that such violence “is not going to be tolerated.”
The defendants on this case almost killed a person as a result of they believed he didn’t belong of their neighborhood due to the colour of his pores and skin. The legislation protects everybody on this nation from racially motivated violence, and these sentences ship a powerful message that such violence is not going to be tolerated.
On the listening to, the federal government additionally launched proof that Alo-Kaonohi dedicated an analogous unprovoked assault on a white-skinned man simply months after his assault on Kunzelman.
Alo-Kaonohi reportedly approached the person at a bar in Wailuku and punched him repeatedly within the head till he was unconscious.
The sufferer sustained a gash on his head that required seven staples to shut. He additionally suffered everlasting mind harm.
Alo-Kaonohi was sentenced to a 12 months in jail for the assault.
“Nobody ought to undergo the violence, cowl up and injustice the defendants wrought on this case,” U.S. Lawyer Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii mentioned. “All individuals have a proper to freedom from violence motivated by racial hatred, and the Division is dedicated to making sure that proper is protected in a courtroom of legislation.”
Whereas each males have been discovered responsible of hate crimes, Aki and Alo-Kaonohi’s attorneys alleged that it was Kunzelman’s entitled and disrespectful perspective that provoked them, not his race.
In response to the protection attorneys, Kunzelman mentioned he moved into the village with the intention of serving to residents enhance their properties and enhance property values with out contemplating increased property taxes. Kunzelman additionally testified he had minimize locks to village gates as a result of he was getting locked out and in and wished to offer the world and its residents with higher locks and keys.
In a letter to the choose, Aki mentioned that he was not a racist, stating: “Not solely as a result of I’m nearly half-Caucasian but additionally as a result of I’ve individuals who I like and care about who’re white.”
Native legal professionals imagine that Alo-Kaonohi and Aki’s case is the primary time the U.S. has prosecuted Native Hawaiians for hate crimes.
The incident has since sparked dialogue concerning Hawaii’s racial complexity.
In an interview with The Related Press, Judy Rohrer, an writer and a professor at Japanese Washington College, mentioned white folks residing outdoors of Hawaii are unaccustomed to being recognized racially.
“We’re used to being within the majority after which we get to Hawaii and rapidly we’re not within the majority, and that makes us uncomfortable,” Rohrer mentioned.
About 38% of Hawaii’s 1.5 million residents are Asian, 26% are white, 20% are Native Hawaiians, 2% are Black and lots of others are of a number of ethnicities, in line with U.S. census figures.
In response to studies, Aki referred to Kunzelman as a “wealthy haole man,” a “dumb haole,” and a “typical haole pondering he proudly owning all the pieces.”
Rohrer famous that the Hawaiian phrase “haole” is used to explain a foreigner’s conduct or attitudes that aren’t in sync with native tradition. To behave “haole” means to behave “out of entitlement, and such as you personal the place,” she mentioned.
Tiare Lawrence, a Native Hawaiian group advocate on Maui, defined to the Related Press that the tensions surrounding the case goes again to Hawaii’s historical past of U.S. colonization.
“The specter of outsiders coming in … brings quite a lot of unhappiness for Hawaiians who’re attempting so exhausting to carry on to what little piece of paradise we’ve left,” Lawrence mentioned, including that she doesn’t condone the assault.
Whereas Lori acknowledged that she was unaware of Hawaiian historical past, she mentioned that “attacking a person white man doesn’t change historical past or enhance issues or justify actions on anyone’s half.”
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