KAPAA – One person was arrested this morning as ejectment orders were carried out in Wailua at the site of where Coco Palms once stood.
Members of the State sheriffs office, Kauai Police Department, DLNR and the Attorney General’s Office were present for the ejectment.
According to Chuck Hanie, who has been living in the property for over a year now, two people were present on the property during the ejectment. One, a female, was arrested.
In a statement, Janie’s wife Jessica said they are planning on returning to the property.
“All we’re trying to do is be sustainable and feed our people,” Jessica Hanie said, staying 80 percent of the homeless on Kauai are either local or Kānaka Maole.
The ejectment happened the day before Coco Palms was scheduled to be in court for a motions hearing to strike a document filed by the defendants charging District Court Judge Michael Soong on several counts in the Hawaiian Court of the Sovereign.
“What we are doing is going for fishing, for food, for eat,” said Mau-Esporito, who decried law enforcement officers as family, stating they have no hard feelings against them, because they are following orders.
Ke‘ala Lopez, an activist who watched from a distance, said movements like this are happening because “the Kanaka woke up and the kids grew up and we’re finally coming into the position to be able to do something.”
“We had no idea what to expect because we didn’t expect it to happen this morning,” she said. “It’s like waking up during a natural catastrophe and all of the sudden needing to make important decisions as soon as you open your eyes.”
Mau Espirito, one of the claimants of the land, said everything is going as planned and he expected his adversaries to “pull a squirrelly move like this.”
“First of all, victory goes to who is worthy of it,” he said. “It’s not the most expensive sword that wins the battle but the strongest spirit.
“So we shall see who’s worthy and who has the strongest spirit.”
Vance Hunt said he’s been living on the property for nearly two years. Of today’s action by police, he said, “It’s just another drill so to speak. We’re been through many over the years. It’s an inconvenience for the Kanaka.”
So he is the leader? Mau Espirito. Payment on bail $.
Did they vote on a resolution? Fair to the Hawaiians or natives.
Journalism requires you to get both sides of the story. TGIs reporters are shirking the *most basic* tenets of responsible journalism. Where is there even a single comment from the police or the landowners? Or the people who have to live next to these campers? Or even from native Hawaiian groups who disagree with their tactics? I suggest someone else write these stories in the future. Because there’s nothing professional about getting only half the story – and that’s all we’re getting.
Exactly! This is more of an opinion piece by Bethany Freudenthal who is close Facebook friends with these perpetrators. She is anything but an impartial reporter. The Garden Island must be desperate for reporters.
Also- your photo caption calls the removal of these people an “illegal action”. That shows how poor your reporting really is. What’s illegal about it? The fact is they went to trial, lost, and have had almost a month beyond the court order to vacate the property. And yet your editor lets this flagrant error get published. That’s more of the irresponsible journalism I’m talking about. Hope you at least have the decency to publish my comments to acknowledge your mistake.
The conspiraracy of 1893 by USA against the natives was not counted as final. Is this what the Hawaiians meant? If so, where do they draw the agreement line of demarcation? Sighting Royal crown lands and ceded lands taken by USA.