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.”
