Posted on 03/07/2007 9:29:46 PM PST by freedomdefender
Gerald Paakaula and his teenaged son are accused of beating a couple outside the Waikele Baskin Robbins, literally cracking their skulls after a minor parking lot collision.
But it's something Paakaula's son allegedly said that now has the FBI involved. Prosecutors say the boy yelled racial slurs at the Caucasian couple right before the attack. That makes it a possible civil rights case under the FBI's jurisdiction.
"My understanding of the state law is that the entire hate crime has to be because of a person's race, creed or color, whereas with the federal law it has to only be a factor in the criminal activity taking place," says Special Agent Brandon Simpson.
Federal investigators say they'll be conducting witness interviews and looking at the facts to decide if the brutal assault was road rage or triggered by racism.
Ethnic Studies Professor Davianna McGregor is well aware of racial tension in Hawaii. She says the high cost of living and crowded conditions lead to animosity between locals and newcomers, but she doesn't think this case rises to the federal level.
"Using racial slurs is not a hate crime," said McGregor. "To label it as a hate crime is inappropriate and in itself breeds more animosity and raises racial tensions."
But if FBI does rule it a hate crime, a federal prosecution would significantly increase the possible punishment for Gerald Paakaula.
"It's a very important thing that the federal government protects people's unalienable rights," said Simpson.
Can we do so retroactive to 1950, so that Barack Obama can't run for President?
Houle day is gonna be outlawed? That cultural tradition?
You mean "Kill Haole Day," a traditional celebration of diversity in Hawaii's public schools.
Which is why most Caucasians, if they can possibly afford it, send their kids to private schools.
I just read in the paper about an incident in Bremerton Washington where two individuals were arrested for head butting passengers on a state ferry. While being arrested they yelled racial slurs at the cops. No FBI here and nada in regards to this being a hate crime. I guess yelling racial slurs at cops is excluded from the hate crimes legislation. Besides there was no mention of the races of those involved but it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.
Yeah...That's it. Exactly. A couple friends I worked with grew up on the islands....used to tell me how they had to hide out for days in the house..out of school..
Does that still go on today as seriously as they said it was back in the 60's?? I guess the other half of the 'joke' was the resident Haoles not telling the new arrivals about it....these guys still had scars.
Well, it's nice to see a voice of reason every once in a while.
You can find quotes from folks in all states saying all sorts of nutty things and performing bizarre acts, etc. Does it mean a majority of Hawaiians are hostile to mainlanders? Not in my experience.
I agree wholeheartedly. A bunch of little, socialist, tourist islands in the Pacific should remain a friggin' state?
I don't think so....
Gee, thanks a lot.
Sure . . . we have some stupid lib legislators
and self-interest groups.
But the people here are mostly kind
and giving.
It's the reason I've lived here for
most of my life.
"Using racial slurs is not a hate crime," said McGregor. "To label it as a hate crime is inappropriate and in itself breeds more animosity and raises racial tensions."
What the "Ethnic Studies" propaganda artist means is, it is not a hate-crime because Caucasians were the victims of brutality, hatred, and violence.
Good a time as any to sell Hawaii to the Japanese.
What do you mean?
Hawaiians gone wild!
I don't know about now but can't imagine it's different today in a lot of public schools.
I'm part-Hawaiian but I look haole. I was jumped and beaten by locals twice when I was a teen (on Oahu), both times while out hiking. In my twenties a car full of locals tried to run me over when I was out jogging on the Big Island. Fortunately, they missed, and didn't come back. Sometimes, people aren't so fortunate. (For example, the Dana Ireland murder/rape case on the Big Island. http://starbulletin.com/1999/06/08/ireland/story4.html ; http://starbulletin.com/1999/06/08/ireland/story3.html ).
I would think almost all haoles, or those who look haole, who have grown up in the islands would be able to give you similar stories. Certainly we all have grown up with having "f****n haoles" yelled at us.
The trick is that you know to stay out of certain parts of the islands, and you never go anywhere alone after dark or in isolated areas. Then you are a target. These people are basically cowards, in addition to being incredibly racist.
What shocked everyone about the beating of the military family is that it happened in a supposedly "safe" area, a big shopping center, that also caters to Japanese and other upscale Asian tourists because it has a lot of outlet stores.
To be fair, it is not just haoles that are targeted. African-Americans are subject to a lot of racial taunts, in part because most are military and these people hate the military as well. Japanese tourists are also subject to a lot of assaults, although these are mostly for money because the local thugs know the Japanese tourists won't fight back, and because of the language barrier they know it would be very difficult for the police to get enough information and testimony from the victims to catch or prosecute them. (Coming from a very safe country like Japan, most of these tourists don't have a clue and are sitting ducks.)
This goes on all the time, but a lot of it gets covered up because it is bad for tourism. A few years ago in the Nineties it was so bad that the Japanese Foreign Ministry warned they were considering putting Hawaii on a list of unsafe places for its citizens to travel to. Then the State went on a campaign to make the state more safe for Japanese tourists that worked, at least for a while.
A couple times a year, tourists just disappear and aren't heard from again. It's always put down to "they got lost hiking." The papers run a few stories about their families coming to Hawaii to look for "Johnny" or "Martha and Pete." People who grew up here know what happened and that they are sitting at the bottom of a gulch somewhere. After a couple of days with the wild pigs around, there is not much left.
And Hawaii's strategic, to boot.
I love your homepage.
Regards,
LH
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