HI - Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi and Levi Aki Jr. on hate crime trial for beating of white man Christopher Kunzelman - 11/9/22

[Bishop Black]

Hawaii hate crime trial begins for beating of white man

A trial is underway for two Native Hawaiian men charged with a hate crime in the 2014 beating of a white man who bought a house in their remote village on Maui

abcnews.go.com

Lawyers representing two Native Hawaiian men don't dispute they brutally assaulted a white man who purchased a house in their remote village on the island of Maui.

Trial began Tuesday for Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi and Levi Aki Jr., who are charged with one federal count each of a hate crime.

Alo-Kaonohi punched and kicked Christopher Kunzelman and Aki hit him with a shovel when Kunzelman tried to fix up the house he purchased in Kahakuloa village, Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Thomas told the jury.

Alo-Kaonohi dragged his finger down Kunzelman's face and said his skin was the wrong color, Thomas said.

The attack, which left Kunzelman with injuries including a concussion, two broken ribs and head and abdominal trauma, never would have happened if it weren't for his race, Thomas said.

 

[ifindedout]

From Nov. 22, 2022: Alo-Kaonohi and Aki convicted.

Two Maui Men Convicted of Hate Crimes for Racially Motivated Attack on White Man

After a two-week jury trial, a federal jury in Honolulu, Hawaii, found defendants Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 32, and Levi Aki Jr., 33, guilty of a hate crime for their racially motivated attacks on C.K., a white man who was attempting to move into their Native Hawaiian neighborhood of Kahakuloa on Maui.

www.justice.gov

After a two-week jury trial, a federal jury in Honolulu, Hawaii, found defendants Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 32, and Levi Aki Jr., 33, guilty of a hate crime for their racially motivated attacks on C.K., a white man who was attempting to move into their Native Hawaiian neighborhood of Kahakuloa on Maui.

“This verdict brings justice and vindication to the victim, a man who was assaulted and nearly killed simply based on the color of his skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The jury’s verdict – and in fact this whole prosecution – reflects the Department of Justice’s commitment to protecting every person in this country from race-based violence, regardless of the race of the perpetrator or the victim. The law applies equally to everyone.”

“The defendants in this case committed a gruesome attack on the victim because of his race,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will work to bring to justice anyone who uses threats and violence to intimidate any individual because of racial bias.”

At trial, the evidence showed that C.K., purchased a house in Kahakuloa and decided to move there with his wife and three daughters after his wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and forced to retire. When C.K. arrived in Kahakuloa, he was harassed and threatened by various Kahakuloa residents who told him things like, “This is a Hawaiian village. The only thing coming from the outside is the electricity,” and “You don’t even belong in Hawaii.”

On Feb. 13, 2014, when C.K. was unpacking his belongings with his elderly uncle, the defendants, who had never met C.K. before, stormed onto his property and demanded that he pack his things and leave, threatening to “tie [him] up and drag [him]” and make him “go missing” if he did not comply. When C.K. replied that he owned the house, defendant Alo-Kaonohi dragged his index finger along C.K.’s jaw and told him, “Your skin is the wrong f****** color.” Defendant Aki then picked up a roofing shovel and handed it to defendant Alo-Kaonohi, who struck C.K. in the head with it, opening up a bloody wound on the back of C.K.’s head. Later on, after C.K. had already begun packing up his possessions, the defendants attacked him a second time. During that attack, defendant Aki head butted C.K. and struck him in the face with the shovel a second time, giving C.K. a concussion and causing him to lose consciousness. When he came to, the defendants were kicking him in the side—kicks that broke two of his ribs. During the second attack, one of the defendants said, “no white man is ever going to live here.”

“The jury’s verdict confirms that the rule of law serves to protect all persons in our community from vicious assaults, no matter the color of their skin,” said United States Attorney Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii. “When people commit violent crimes against someone out of hatred for the victim’s race, the Department of Justice will ensure they face criminal consequences in a court of law.”

 

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March 3, 2023: Both sentenced.

Two Maui Men Sentenced for Racially Motivated Attack on White Man

Two men from the Hawaiian island of Maui were sentenced in federal court for their racially motivated attack on C.K., a white man who was attempting to move into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.

www.justice.gov

Two men from the Hawaiian island of Maui were sentenced in federal court for their racially motivated attack on C.K., a white man who was attempting to move into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.

Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 33, was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Levi Aki Jr., 33, was sentenced to 50 months in prison.

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At the sentencing hearing, the government introduced evidence that just months after his unprovoked attack on C.K., Alo-Kaonohi committed a similar unprovoked attacked on a white-skinned man at the Steel Horse Saloon, a bar in Wailuku, Maui. In that attack, Alo-Kaonohi approached the victim from behind, tapped him on the shoulder and then punched him repeatedly in the head until he was unconscious. The victim sustained a large gash on his head that required seven staples to close and suffered permanent brain damage.