Latest news with #Haole
New York Post
11-07-2025
- New York Post
Native Hawaii man to be resentenced in hate crime against a white man he beat with a shovel
A native Hawaiian man serving time for brutally beating a white man with a shovel over a decade ago will be resentenced and could be hit with additional years in prison after his appeal of his hate crime conviction was rejected. Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 35, was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years by a Honolulu judge alongside Levi Aki Jr, another Native Hawaiian man, after a jury found them both guilty of the hate-fueled violence in 2023. The court determined that the duo were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they repeatedly beat him with a shovel in 2014 when he and his wife tried to move into their remote village in Maui. 4 Levi Aki Jr. and Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi were both found guilty of a hate crime, agreeing with prosecutors that the two men were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they punched, kicked, and used a shovel to beat him in 2014. AP Kunzelman was left with severe brain damage following the assault that placed such stress on his marriage that it catalyzed a divorce, his wife Lori said. Alo-Kaonohi tried to appeal the conviction, taking issue with the federal hate crime enhancement, but the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction Thursday. During the original trial, Alo-Kaonohi's attorneys asserted that the attack on Kunzelman was fueled more by his entitled attitude. It's still not clear how much more time he could get. Considering the judge's previous sentence, though, retired federal defender Alexander Silvert, who is not involved in the retrial, suggested three extra years could feasibly be tacked on. Lori Kunzelman said she'd welcome the extended sentence after she and her husband were essentially run out of their dream home before even moving in. 4 Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 35, was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years by a Honolulu judge. AP 4 The court determined that the duo were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they repeatedly beat him with a shovel in 2014. Christopher Kunzelman The Kunzelmans still own the trodden-down house they originally purchased on the ocean for $175,000 while they were seeking an escape from Arizona after Lori was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 'We had vacationed on Maui year after year — loved, loved, loved Maui,' she said. It's been impossible to sell the home, Lori said, as locals just 'won't allow anybody to step foot' on the property. 4 Christopher Kunzelman was beaten when he and his wife tried to move into a remote village in Maui. Christopher Kunzelman 'It was obviously a hate crime from the very beginning. The whole time they're saying things like, 'You have the wrong skin color. No 'haole' is ever going to live in our neighborhood,'' Lori said after the 2023 trial wrapped. Haole, a Hawaiian word that was central to the first trial, can mean 'foreigner' and 'white person.' Much of the struggles between native Hawaiians and white tourists stems from the lack of education surrounding the islands' forced inclusion as a US state and its native history. The Hawaii Innocence Project plans on contesting the retrial to prove that 'haole' is not a derogatory term, the organization's co-director Kenneth Lawson said. With Post wires
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Woodburn: Beautiful mosaic of memorial rocks
Some people have rocks in their head. Others have hearts of stone. And then there is a recent visitor to Ventura, a man of Baby Boomer age and reportedly from New York, who was caught on video proving he suffers from both sedimentary maladies. Imagine a vandal toppling gravestones in a cemetery and you get an idea of what this king of jerks from Queens did at the memorial rock garden that graces a raised cement planter along our beach promenade. Specifically, The Jerk ruthlessly threw into the ocean some of the beautiful rocks decorated to honor lost loved ones. Watching the detestable act, posted widely on social media, made my heart feel like it had been stung by a hundred jellyfish. If you have never visited this special garden of stones, you are missing out. It is one of the loveliest little jewels of a place you can image, affording a view of the ocean and the music of breaking waves and this sunny greeting on a tiny sign: 'Welcome to Haole's Memorial Rock Garden / Please leave memorial rocks for all to enjoy!' Haole was a dog, a Yellow Lab albeit with white fur, who was famous because he surfed. Indeed, Haole once appeared on 'Good Morning America' and also stars in a book, 'Ride the Wave: Love Sofia and Haole the Surf Dog,' which is the true story of how he helped teach a little girl with Down syndrome to 'walk on water.' After Haole died five summers past, the memorial garden was planted with its first rock and today blooms with many hundreds, if not a thousand or more. The mini-markers come in many sizes and shapes, although most are round or oval, and more than a few are heart-shaped. Almost all are pleasingly smooth as if selected with great care. What makes these stones true gems is they are hand-painted with flowers and hearts, sunsets and rainbows, paw prints and palm trees, angel wings and crosses, with R.I.P. wishes and other heartwarming messages along with the names of loved ones — pets, yes, but also human moms and dads and spouses and siblings and friends. Many are true works of art and all are works from the heart. Together, this colorful avalanche creates a mosaic worthy of comparison to a stained glass window in a church, which is fitting because this comely corner of the seaside seems like an outdoor temple. As such, it is common to see people — pedestrians and cyclists and rollerbladers; alone and in couples and small groups — stop and visit, pause and ponder, remember and pray. Some search for the rocks they have previously left here while others leave new stones now. One rock in Haole's memorial garden is especially dear to me because I know its honoree as well as the artist, my 6-year-old granddaughter, who lovingly decorated it. When Maya learned that my good friend Nick's dog recently crossed the rainbow bridge, she found a stream-polished rock, palm-sized and oval; cleaned it and painted on swirls of deep blue and sea-glass green, and added white stars; then, in her neatest kindergarten printing, in black marker wrote: 'Henry.' Coincidentally, Henry's rock was placed at the southernmost tip of Haole's garden, precisely where The Jerk committed his briny desecration. I went to check and was relieved to find 'Henry' still resting in peace in view of the Ventura Pier. I hope the memorial stones that were tossed into the ocean can be, or have been, retrieved at low tide. One Jerk cannot wipe out Haole's four-legged legacy. Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@ His books are available at This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Woodburn: Beautiful mosaic of memorial rocks
