We got home late Wednesday afternoon, in time to see the Hawaii News Now story on the evening news concerning the group calling itself Occupied Forces Hawaii Army (“Feds link man accused of threatening Hawaii leaders to paramilitary sovereignty group“). A story I wrote for Civil Beat appeared back on April 20 (“FBI Arrests Miske Witness After Waianae Harbor Confrontation“). I knew HNN’s Rick Daysog was working on a story about the group, and had been holding off on doing my own follow-up in order to avoid stepping on his efforts.
OFHA has made two public replies to the coverage.
First, the organization’s leader, who goes by the name Sam Lilikoi, made a short live broadcast the following morning from his small sailboat, which he refers to as the OFHA “warship.” The video can be viewed on Lilikoi’s Facebook page.
Lilikoi, whose real name is Eric Christain Allen Nelson, commented that despite what he views as errors in reporting, the news coverage has given the group a public profile and visibility it previously lacked.
In reply to the disclosure that he was convicted of a series of armed robberties in the early 1990s, and was sentenced to 20 years incarcertation. At the time, he became known as the “bicycle bandit.”
“That was a long time ago,” Lilikoi said. “Sometimes our past makes us who we are now. I’m going to be thankful for my past.”
That’s a very fair point, and one I agree with. Former offenders should not be automatically stigmatized for the remainder of their lives. If they have served their time and learned to stay out of legal trouble, they’ve earned the right to be freed from that past.
The following day, Friday May 13, a small group of OFHA members held a press conference at the State Capitol.
The short statement provides a pretty good overview of OFHA’s beliefs. You can review it here and draw your own conclusions for now. But I’ll be back with some analysis and fact checking later.
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Interesting concept. Yes, we all concur there was an OVERTHROW in 1893.
It’s an interesting new path of how to proceed.
toward resolution. By a non-Kingdom organization, while claiming to be non-violent.
This is the key question. The State is definitely part and parcel of the problem.
The State DLNR role with NO ACCREDITED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS OF ANY KIND!
Wielding AR-15 is inappropriate. Especially officers of the State, such as former Council Member Tom Berg. Tom is absolutely the wrong person to deal with such a group. Having had violent confrontation during the APEC Conference with Secret Service Agents and an Incident while intoxicated, on record. The ball is in FEDERAL Homelands Securities lap. Without Accredited State Law Enforcement, and simultaneously with law requiring that in State Law, enacted over three years.
The arrest of State Public Safety Training Official, in recent news is reflective of the appearance of a “Fake State” and agencies.
In State Court, the State usually prevails.
If the Federal Government, takes no interest in the UFHA, than the State has a real problem.
In international Court, Hawaiians have had much more success. But, this is a gray area, SOH not bound to any international Court. State Supreme Court, holds the States power of determination. Buckle your seat belts, this is the beginning of a whole lot more.
Actually, the “problem” is deluded fools who eagerly buy into any shred of this kooky nonsense. Rather than buckle seat belts, it’s time to make a little popcorn.
When you look beyond the nut, there is a tree.
Many, Hawaiians will be attracted to this forrest.
It’s very, very sad that some Hawaiians are attracted to nuts.
Hawaiian’s seeking Justice, have little or no confidence in the Justice!. And even when it is possible it must be administered by The State of Hawaii – Governor Ige.
Blissful disregard of any such organization is completely foolish. What you see as nuts is compelling for natives. It sometimes takes a nut to get attention.
Putting blind faith in kook armies and quack theories while blaming all modern difficulties on cherry-picked interpretations of history and inciting racial grievance is incredibly harmful to Hawaiians and everyone else in Hawaii.
Sam comes across as un-hinged in his own video, but I was more impressed with the unnamed gentle spokeswomen in the second video has all the makings of a fearless female freedom fighter.
Wow, she can read a tedious script of fantasy rhetoric.
This boils down to a scruffy ex-con living on a giveaway boat and failing to pay his mooring fees while spouting quack sovereignty rhetoric and mesmerizing a few glassy-eyed followers in thrift store fatigues who probably don’t get much respect at their crappy day jobs.
Kinda feel sorry for the followers who still have time to snap out of it, except for the one who was foolish enough to record himself threatening state officials.
Unfortunately, in this day and age even raggedy kook militias must receive a hard look by law enforcement.
Thanks for the nod to ex-cons as human beings and for the video.
They use the term “repatriation” a lot. It normally means returning someone or something to the country of origin, but the people they’re “repatriating” are already here. Maybe it’s the citizenship that’s notionally being repatriated.
Imperfect mimicking of colonial civil and military terms and practices seems to be a normal part of decolonization. The colonizers can say, “Look! Isn’t that cute? They’re trying to be like us,” but, as in North America in 1776 and India in 1947, power does shift and arrangements have to come from somewhere. Not that I’m predicting anything.
I made a good-faith attempt to listen to “Lilikoi’s” Facebook monologue linked above and found it to be a rambling tangle of incoherent nonsense. It’s simply incredible that any sane adult would call this guy their leader and salute him or follow orders.
So, ummmm, did anyone actually cover their press conference?
Bunch of militia wannabees spouting gibberish nonsense. Let them be !
These people need to be placed in the context of beachcombers and castaways in the history of Pacific islands. Hawaii has a long history of eccentric characters who drifted over here for no particular reason and just got by day to day, like the homeless men who save up for a plane ticket to Hawaii and never leave. Some of them are scammers who live in a fantasy world. If they connect with desperate locals, they form a “militia”.
There are some separable claims and implications here. More information on Sam Lilikoi needed.
It feels like a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp movie, a spinoff of delightful fantasy in a rabbit hole going up in smoke. More popcorn, please.