WASHINGTON – Two males from the Hawaiian island of Maui have been sentenced in federal court docket for his or her racially motivated assault on C.Okay., a white man who was making an attempt to maneuver into their neighborhood of Kahakuloa.
Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 33, was sentenced to 78 months in jail. Levi Aki Jr., 33, was sentenced to 50 months in jail.
“The defendants on this case practically 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,” mentioned Assistant Legal professional Common Kristen Clarke of the Justice Division’s Civil Rights Division. “The regulation protects everybody on this nation from racially motivated violence, and these sentences ship a robust message that such violence is not going to be tolerated.”
“Nobody ought to endure the violence, cowl up and injustice the defendants wrought on this case,” mentioned U.S. Legal professional Clare E. Connors for the District of Hawaii. “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 court docket of regulation.”
“This horrific violence was motived by nothing aside from hate,” mentioned Particular Agent in Cost Steven Merrill of the FBI Honolulu Area Workplace. “The FBI is dedicated to making sure those that perpetrate such injustices are held accountable and that civil rights are revered and guarded for all.”
At trial, the proof confirmed that the sufferer, C.Okay., bought a home in Kahakuloa and determined to maneuver there along with his spouse and three daughters after his spouse was identified with a number of sclerosis and compelled to retire. When C.Okay. arrived in Kahakuloa, he was harassed and threatened by varied Kahakuloa residents who advised him issues like, “This can be a Hawaiian village. The one factor coming from the skin is the electrical energy,” and “You don’t even belong in Hawaii.”
On Feb. 13, 2014, when C.Okay. was unpacking his belongings along with his aged uncle, the defendants, who had by no means met C.Okay. earlier than, stormed onto his property and demanded that he pack his issues and go away, threatening to “tie [him] up and drag [him]” and make him “go lacking” if he didn’t comply. When C.Okay. replied that he owned the home, Alo-Kaonohi dragged his index finger alongside C.Okay.’s jaw and advised him, “Your pores and skin is the incorrect f****** coloration.” Aki then picked up a roofing shovel and handed it to Alo-Kaonohi, who struck C.Okay. within the head with it, opening up a bloody wound on the again of C.Okay.’s head. In a while, after C.Okay. had already begun packing up his possessions, the defendants attacked him a second time. Throughout that assault, Aki head butted C.Okay. and struck him within the face with the shovel a second time, giving C.Okay. a concussion and inflicting him to lose consciousness. When he got here to, the defendants have been kicking him within the facet and broke two of his ribs. Through the second assault, one of many defendants mentioned, “no white man is ever going to stay right here.”
On the sentencing listening to, the federal government launched proof that simply months after his unprovoked assault on C.Okay., Alo-Kaonohi dedicated an analogous unprovoked attacked on a whiteskinned man on the Metal Horse Saloon, a bar in Wailuku, Maui. In that assault, Alo-Kaonohi approached the sufferer from behind, tapped him on the shoulder after which punched him repeatedly within the head till he was unconscious. The sufferer sustained a big gash on his head that required seven staples to shut and suffered everlasting mind injury.
Assistant Legal professional Common Clarke, U.S. Legal professional Connors and Particular Agent in Cost Merrill made the announcement.
The FBI Honolulu Area Workplace carried out the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Legal professional Chris Thomas for the District of Hawaii and Particular Litigation Counsel Christopher J. Perras and Trial Legal professional Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division’s Felony Part prosecuted the case.