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A jury found two Native Hawaiian men guilty of a federal hate crime on Thursday, eight years after they beat a white man who bought a house in their remote village on Maui.
U.S. District Court Judge J. Michael Seabright ordered the detention of Levi Aki Jr. and Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi until their March 2 sentencing, which could be up to 10 years in prison.
The two men were escorted from the court in handcuffs as about a dozen family members cried and said goodbye. “Love you brah,” a man said. “Mama loves you,” a woman said, as the toddler in her arms said, “Bye daddy.” “Stay strong, yeah,” Aki offered.
The verdict stemmed from an 2014 incident in which Alo-Kaonohi and Aki beat Christopher Kunzelman, a white man who had purchased a foreclosed house in their home village of Kahakuloa. Foregoing hate crime charges, the state charged both men with assault. They pleaded no contest and after plea agreements in 2019, the two were placed on probation.
The federal charges, brought seven years after the attack, alleged it was racially motivated.
On Thursday afternoon, the multiracial jury unanimously agreed that both men attacked Kunzelman because of the color of his skin. Defense attorneys for Alo-Kaonohi and Aki argued that they were motivated not by racial animus but because of Kunzelman’s entitlement and disrespect.
