My friend Denby Fawcett has been writing about the rampage that devastated the Laysan albatross colony at Kaena Point in 2015. Her column this week in Civil Beat reported on the sentencing of the only person tried as an adult in the case.
The brutal killing of many of the federally-protected birds in a refuge area has generated broad community anger, with calls for harsh punishment. Check the comments on Denby’s latest column, as well as her earlier ones concerning the case.
I’m an animal person, and completely understand this anger.
But in a Facebook post, a friend from my days at the old Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Blaine Fergerstrom, put forward a different viewpoint which I think should receive more public consideration.
He wrote:
If that were my kid at Ka’ena Point, I would be destroyed. I promise, I gave everything I had to make that kid the best human I could. If he did not follow, did not listen, I promise, I did all I could. Now, I would feel completely destroyed, that my kid would do something that terrible. I promise, I flailed his ‘okole as much as was permissible under the law. Now I would be devastated, depressed, disheartened, to see my son leave the courtroom in handcuffs, led away by Sheriffs, not to be seen for 45 days. I would be left trying to figure out how to pay the fine and restitution. How I would try to help my son rebuild his wrecked life. I would be destroyed, never to be the same happy-go-lucky dude, ever again. My son’s future completely destroyed. My own dreams for my son, completely destroyed. Yes, he was terrible. I promise I did all I could to make the outcome different. Now I am left with sadness and despair. You only control so much. If you know, you know. If you have no offspring, you do not know. Your opinion is invalid. I feel badly for that family. Ease up, a bit. Aloha.
It’s easy to cling to a hard line. It’s hard to deal with the human realities. To offer a chance for redemption.
Thanks, Blaine, for trying to view this from a different perspective.
“If you know, you know. If you have no offspring, you do not know. Your opinion is invalid. I feel badly for that family. Ease up, a bit. Aloha.”
Beautifully said.
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Yes, thank you, Blaine Fergerstrom.
Of course we parents know how much the parents are suffering and really feel for them but I still think the sentence was too lenient. I guess having it on his record forever is punishment forever and that makes up for only 45 days in jail. It was such an abnormal crime that it is still hard to get my head around it.
There might be more sympathy for Mr. Fergerstrom’s point of view if his sensibilities were in fact known to be those of the parents of “children” who acted with a premeditated savagery that belied their legal age. The community outraged by these crimes has heard nothing from the parents of these “children.”
I was just talking about this with my husband after seeing news about the sentencing. It’s probably not going to be a popular viewpoint, but I feel terrible for the young perpetrators as well. Clearly they showed very poor judgment and cruelty but kids do stupid things sometimes without thinking through the consequences. I hate to see them have to pay for it for the rest of their lives.
It will be very difficult for them to ever live this down, and their lives will be changed forever from the public humiliation aspect of it all, and the shame they have brought upon their entire families. I feel that is more than enough punishment and the rest of us should try to forgive and give them a chance to redeem themselves.
Thank you, Kali. Very nicely stated.
Rich kids from rich families will end up alright, probably even better than most of the not rich kids from not rich families who didn’t murder a bunch of animals!
Denby Fawcett, Civil Beat, 2016:
“All the details I have about the alleged albatross killers came indirectly from the suspects themselves who, at a party shortly after the Kaena incident, bragged to their peers about what they had done to the birds. Their boasting included showing the metal identification tags obtained by cutting off the albatrosses’ feet.
Some of their peers were stunned and told their parents. The word got out to Punahou School and others.
Oblivious to the reaction of their classmates, the suspects continued to show off the metal tags and even post pictures of the dead birds on their social media sites until eventually taking down the incriminating information.
What makes the alleged crime particularly horrific is nesting albatrosses are harmless, trusting creatures that are unafraid of human beings. By their nature, the birds stay close to their eggs and chicks no matter what’s happening around their nests.”
http://www.civilbeat.org/2016/11/denby-fawcett-why-are-the-kaena-point-albatross-killers-still-free/
Thank you. It seemed throughout the reporting that Denby had a thing because the perpetrators were from Her Punahou, and this somehow resonated the meaning above the core story. The teens acts were heinous, but the echoes on that and, for some commentators, confidence that the behavior invariably predicts future wrongs, have been consistently erring exaggerations.
Jonathan Scheuer?s helpful comment on his Facebook page:
Are you also mad at the albatross killer and his sentence?Here are six easy and immediate actions that can help steer your anger into assistance for albatross:
1) Reduce your plastic use, since chicks are dying from parents feeding them bits from the ocean. Every bit helps.
2) Donate money to Pacific Rim Conservation, the 501c3 that helps steward Kaena Point, O`ahu, where the killing took place http://www.pacificrimconservation.org/take-action/
3) Support groups that are trying to restore and enhance local and indigenous resource management (http://kuahawaii.org), so we are all more connected to our places.
4) If you are a teacher, contact Hob Osterlund (author of Holy Moli) for free children’s books re Moli for your classrooms.
5) Read (buy or borrow) Holy Moli to learn about these birds.
6) If you are in Hawai`i, volunteer for a workday where albatross or other seabirds nest (e.g. https://www.fws.gov/…/Kilauea_…/what_we_do/get_involved.html)
I know.
excuses excuses excuses. sad.
Denby Fawcett, Civil Beat, 2016:
“All the details I have about the alleged albatross killers came indirectly from the suspects themselves who, at a party shortly after the Kaena incident, bragged to their peers about what they had done to the birds. Their boasting included showing the metal identification tags obtained by cutting off the albatrosses’ feet.
Some of their peers were stunned and told their parents. The word got out to Punahou School and others.
Oblivious to the reaction of their classmates, the suspects continued to show off the metal tags and even post pictures of the dead birds on their social media sites until eventually taking down the incriminating information.
What makes the alleged crime particularly horrific is nesting albatrosses are harmless, trusting creatures that are unafraid of human beings. By their nature, the birds stay close to their eggs and chicks no matter what’s happening around their nests.”
http://www.civilbeat.org/2016/11/denby-fawcett-why-are-the-kaena-point-albatross-killers-still-free/
“not to be seen for 45 days”
Oh, the horror, the horror!!!!
and then he goes back to college and won’t be seen for maybe a whole semester!
Oh, the horror!
Actually, 6 months would have been a more equitable jail term in this case.
The parents’ feelings are not part of the judicial equation.
Bob, punishment is not allowed. Justice only comes in the form of paychecks and land titles. It’s almost as if you expect people to grow up or something. Behind that chainsaw murderer’s mask hides a scared little boy. Carrying a chainsaw.
No need punishment. All you have to do is save everyone. Trump said he can do it.
Trump can’t save himself..but like the birds, AMERICA will suffer as well as the rest of the world from a lack of conscience, just as the birds suffered.
There have been many suggestions made that the person most responsible for the killings was one of the juveniles.
I’m wondering if there was an option to prosecute that juvenile as an adult, as sometimes happens in (human) murder cases.
I think I agree with your friend. There are a lot of issues here: cruelty, animals, endangered environment, economic and social class, stages of human life, responsibility of followers vs. responsibility of leaders, our unhelpful system of punishment for crime. More compassion for innocent birds and guilty humans will be helpful.
I’ve been following this story and the comments, and I don’t think anyone has touched on an important point. People who torture humans often began by torturing animals. This behavior is inhumane, and potentially a sign of further dangerous behavior. While the press is focussed on the one offender who is over 18, the parents, schools, courts friends and family of all the offenders need to be aware that this was likely not a one time activity.
Excellent point.
Today’s “children”, tomorrow’s political leadership?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4LzhgExvrc
No country for old liberals?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eZ6EACDKiE