CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Honolulu police officers wrapped up their investigation Thursday at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which was stormed by about a dozen people from the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi.
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On the 126th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, it was unfortunate indeed to have a peaceful march and protest overshadowed by a storming of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs headquarters that required police intervention.
Five male protesters were arrested in Thursday’s harrowing incident that caused a lockdown of OHA’s Nimitz Highway building, in which a dozen members of the sovereignty group Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi forced their way in. At least two OHA staffers were assaulted, and others harassed and verbally threatened.
“It was very traumatizing and emotional for our employees,” said Kamana‘opono Crabbe, OHA chief executive officer.
No doubt tensions are heightened this time each year, with Jan. 17 marking the overthrow, back in 1893, of the Hawaiian kingdom’s last monarch, Queen Liliuokalani; that led to Hawaii’s annexation to the United States in 1898, then American statehood in 1959.
Fueling unrest is OHA’s uneven stewardship of Hawaiian interests that leaves it open to reproach — and the agency must do better by its beneficiaries.
But on Thursday’s anniversary, the spotlight should have been on the hundreds-strong, peaceful protest and march from Nuuanu to ‘Iolani Palace — a show of solidarity and commitment to cause that risked neither harm to others nor erosion of support.
Hawaiian community leader Hinaleimoana Wong, reflecting on the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi’s actions, was right in observing: “I question their integrity, I question their logic and I question their complete lack of leadership and the negative precedent that this sets for the Hawaiian community.”
