Two native Hawaiian men were sentenced to prison terms for a federal hate crime in\u00a0the brutal beating of a white man\u2002who was trying to move into their remote Maui village.
\nA jury in November found that Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi and Levi Aki Jr. attacked Christopher Kunzelman because of his race \u2014 punching, kicking and beating him with a shovel in 2014, when he tried to move into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.
\nAlo-Kaonohi, 33, was sentenced to 78 months; Aki, 33, was sentenced to 50 months, the Justice Department\u00a0said.
\n\u201cThe defendants in this case nearly killed a man because they believed he did not belong in their neighborhood because of the color of his skin,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division.
\n\u201cThe law protects everyone in this country from racially motivated violence, and these sentences send a strong message that such violence will not be tolerated.\u201d
\nLocal lawyers believe it\u2019s the first time the US has prosecuted native Hawaiians for hate crimes. The case has highlighted the struggle between native Hawaiians looking to preserve their culture and newcomers to Hawaii who are unaware of its history and racial dynamics.
\nLawyers for the two men deny the attack was racially fueled, but because of the victim\u2019s entitlement and disrespectful attitude.
\nKunzelman\u2019s wife Lori said the couple loved Maui, and that her husband had purchased a home sight unseen for $175,000 to repair after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
\nWhen he began working on the house, he was harassed and threatened by locals who claimed things like: \u201cThis is a Hawaiian village. The only thing coming from the outside is the electricity,\u201d and \u201cYou don\u2019t even belong in Hawaii,\u201d according to evidence presented during the trial.
\n\u201cIt was obviously a hate crime from the very beginning,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole time they\u2019re saying things like, \u2018You have the wrong skin color. No \u2018haole\u2019 is ever going to live in our neighborhood.\u2019\u201d
\n\u201cHaole\u201d is a Hawaiian word with a complicated history. Its meanings include foreigner and white person. According to Judy Rohrer, the author of \u201cHaoles in Hawai\u2019i,\u201d when someone is \u201cacting haole\u201d they are acting out of entitlement and like they \u201cown the place.\u201d
\nVideo from cameras on Kunzelman\u2019s vehicle shows Aki saying \u201cYou\u2019s a haole, eh,\u201d which Kunzelman testified was said in a derogatory way.
\n\u201cWhen you watch the video \u2026 there was almost like enthusiasm,\u201d said US District Judge J. Michael Seabright. \u201cMaybe that\u2019s what\u2019s so disturbing about this case.\u201d
\nThe two men took Kunzelman\u2019s phone, which recorded the attack, and tossed it into the ocean. After the assault, Aki referred to Kunzelman to police as a \u201crich Haole guy,\u201d a \u201cdumb haole\u201d and a \u201ctypical haole thinking he owning everything \u2026 trying to change things up in Kahakuola,\u201d according to prosecutors.
\nThe men were upset after Kunzelman cut locks to village gates, their lawyers said. Kunzelman said he did so because residents continuously locked him in and out while he was fixing his new home. He testified that he wanted to provide the village with better locks and distribute keys to residents.
\n\u201cThe hate crime messed me up,\u201d Kunzelman said in court Thursday.
\nIn a letter to the judge, Aki said he doesn\u2019t see himself as racist: \u201cNot only because I am almost half-Caucasian but also because I have people who I love and care about who are white.\u201d He added that he\u2019s ashamed of his immature and hurtful works and actions.<\/p>\n