Category: DMZ-Hawai’i / Aloha ‘Aina In the News

Wednesday, November 5, 2003

THE STRYKER HEARINGS

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
George Cox hoisted signs protesting a proposed Stryker brigade to be stationed in Schofield during public testimony last night at the Turtle Bay Hilton. He was among some 200 people who attended the meeting to oppose the plan.

Calm opposition weighs against mobile brigade

Only one person at a public meeting voices support for the Army’s plans for Hawaii

By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

About 200 people, dozens carrying protest signs, expressed their opposition last night to the Army’s plans to bring a Stryker brigade to Hawaii.

The public hearing at the Turtle Bay Resort was the last of four Oahu meetings on private property to solicit public comment. At the first two meetings last week, seven people were arrested for trespassing for carrying protest signs, which the Army had banned. Army officials backtracked on the ban at the third meeting last week and at last night’s meeting no tempers flared and the audience was respectful of the speakers.

Led by kupuna Cathleen and Creighton Mattoon, about 50 people chanted in a processional from the front of the Turtle Bay Resort to a meeting room inside, just before the Army began receiving testimony at 7 p.m.

A total of 155 people testified on the draft environmental impact statement at the four Oahu meetings, said Army spokesman Maj. John Williams.

After two hours of testimony last night involving about 60 people, only one person, Bud Ebel, spoke in favor of bringing the Stryker brigade here.

Two meetings will be held on the Big Island this week and public comments will be accepted by the Army through Jan. 3.

The Army wants to convert the 2nd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division to one of its first fast-strike brigades, built around the 19-ton, Stryker transport vehicle. It proposes bringing 300 of the vehicles, plus support vehicles and expanding Schofield Barracks by 1,300 acres and Pohakuloa training area on the Big Island by 24,000 acres.

Kunani Nihipali of Pupukea testified that he watched TV news in amazement last week and saw people he knew being arrested at the first two Stryker hearings.

“Again the military enlisting the aid of the Honolulu Police Department and security guards to carry out their dirty work. Pitting friends against friends, Hawaiians against Hawaiians,” Nihipali said.

Nihipali and several others testified that they didn’t think the Army should have scheduled its public hearings on private property.

“How clever of you, to hold public meetings on private property, one cannot fully and properly exercise your right to be heard,” Nihipali said. “Trespassing. Who’s trespassing on whose aina?”

Marine veteran Ed Treschuk of Honolulu called the arrest of people protesting last week “a shameful display of anti-democracy.

“You have the guns and the tanks,” Treschuk said. “Who’s the real threat?”

Kyle Kajihiro, one of the seven people arrested for trespassing last week, asked that the Army, “just save yourself the trouble and cancel this thing.”

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/11/05/news/story3.html

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/11/01/editorial/editorials.html

Saturday, November 01, 2003
[ OUR OPINION ]

Don’t prosecute Stryker protesters

THE ISSUE
The Army rescinded its ban on protest signs at hearings on the proposed Stryker brigade after seven arrests at the first two hearings.

DEMOCRACY can be messy and even unruly, a characteristic that escaped Army officials who scheduled a half-dozen public hearings on its proposed training ground for Stryker armored vehicles. The hearings were booked at halls tending toward the genteel — country clubs and the like. It took two hearings for the Army to come to its senses and realize that First Amendment rights must prevail over any desire for sedate proceedings. Sign-bearing protesters barred from two hearings may attend the remainder, according to the Army’s retreat.

The Army generally has held hearings in school cafeterias, but were “constrained by time” at those venues, according to one Army spokesman. Instead, hearings on the Stryker operation were booked at private meeting halls. In the first two hearings, sign-carrying protesters were barred from halls at Honolulu Country Club at Salt Lake and at the Helemano Plantation in Wahiawa.

Col. David Anderson, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii, said protesters with signs were barred from those hearings because managers of the halls were concerned about “potential damage to their facilities.” Indeed, Paulette Lee, Helemano’s operation manager, complained about “signs that are on sticks. People don’t realize that that can be a weapon.” (Actually, none of the signs were on sticks.)

Anderson said the Army warned the meeting halls’ managers prior to the hearings that sign-carrying protesters could be disorderly. In any case, the barring of sign carriers from the hearings and the arrests of seven protesters who tried to enter the Salt Lake and Wahiawa halls were inexcusable. Criminal trespass charges against them should be dropped and apologies extended.

Anderson’s explanation conflicts with earlier statements by Army officials that they barred signs to create a less intimidating environment for other people attending the hearings. Army spokesman Troy Griffin said the Army “didn’t know the ground rules” for the private halls when they were booked, but he also complained that the protesters’ “agenda is to break up the meeting, and we’re here to gather testimony.” The Army’s explanations are both confounding and contradictory.

Friday, October 31, 2003

Protesters with signs let into Stryker forum

The ban is lifted after leaders promise no meeting disruptions

By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

The Army rescinded its ban on protest signs at public hearings on the proposed Stryker combat brigade, allowing more than 50 sign-wielding protesters to attend last night’s meeting.

The sign ban, which led to seven arrests earlier this week, was lifted for the meeting at the Makaha Resort Golf Club after Army officials spoke to pro- test leaders and got a “clear understanding that there will be no disruption in the meeting,” said Col. David Anderson, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii.

On Tuesday in Salt Lake, at the first of six Stryker public hearings, four protesters were arrested for suspicion of criminal trespass when they tried to bring signs into the meeting. Three more protesters were arrested Wednesday at the second meeting in Wahiawa.

Army officials had said they had banned signs to make a less intimidating environment everyone wishing to comment on the Stryker project’s draft environmental impact statement.

Protesters called the ban a restriction of their free speech.

“I think we prevailed because we’re right,” said protester Keith Kajihiro, of the American Friends Service Committee in Hawaii, who was arrested Tuesday. “We had truth and justice on our side.”

Anderson said the sign rule was enforced because the private halls that the Army rented for the public hearings insisted on peaceful gatherings for fear of “potential damage to their facilities.”

But he noted that the Army notified the meeting halls’ managers prior to the hearings to warn them that protesters carrying signs could present a threat to order.

The Stryker hearings continue Tuesday at the North Shore’s Turtle Bay Resort. The meetings will go to the Big Island on Wednesday and Thursday, at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort and the Hilo Hawaii Hotel, respectively.

The Army wants to acquire 23,000 acres on the Big Island and add 1,400 acres to the 27,000 that Schofield Barracks now occupies for new Stryker facilities to accommodate the 310 new eight-wheeled, 19-ton Stryker combat vehicles.

At the three-hour public comment session yesterday, protesters with signs stayed in the back of the hall. Some of those who testified criticized the sign policy.

“It gets me very upset that people cannot, in this day and age, express themselves via signs,” said Frenchy DeSoto, who testified against the brigade. “All I can do is say, Shame.”

There were no security guards at the entrance to the Makaha meeting, as was the case at the past two hearings. But plainclothes personnel from the resort were monitoring the hall, Turner said.

Before the meeting, Anderson mingled with the protesters, reading their signs and shaking hands.

Also outside, protesters like 9-year-old Noa Helela and his mother, Laulani Teale, were busy making signs. Teale said she decided to attend the meeting with her son after hearing about the sign dispute.

“It’s really important that we push the issue of our ability to speak for the land,” she said.

Attorney Eric Seitz said he has spoken to the city and the U.S. Attorney’s Office on behalf of the protesters.

“As far as I’m concerned, I think the Army is totally out of line,” Seitz said. “It’s outrageous to let the Army tell police to arrest people for trespassing.”

Seitz said he believes the Army may have to redo the meetings for not allowing people to testify with their signs.

The four people arrested at the Honolulu Country Club Wednesday night are scheduled to make their initial court appearance on second-degree criminal trespass charges in District Court this morning.

Attorney Wayson Chow is representing them in the criminal proceeding. “This is the first time I know anybody has been arrested for trespassing for holding a sign,” he said.

Chow said the people have been holding signs at public meetings before, and the Army gave no warning of a ban on signs. “The Army just sprung it on them.”

He questions how the Army can hold a public meeting and invite everyone but arrest some of the people who show up to testify.

Star-Bulletin reporter Nelson Daranciang contributed to this report.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/10/31/news/story3.html

Thursday, October 30, 2003

MARY VORSINO / MVORSINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Terry Kekealani was among three people arrested last night at Helemano Plantation, where a public meeting on the Army’s proposed Stryker Brigade was held. For the second straight night, protesters were not allowed to carry signs into the meetings.

3 protesters are arrested at Army hearing

Demonstrators voice their opposition to a new combat brigade

By Mary Vorsino
mvorsino@starbulletin.com

For the second consecutive night, dozens of sign-carrying protesters were barred from a public hearing on the Army’s planned formation of a Stryker combat brigade.

Three were arrested, including native Hawaiian community leader and kupuna Dr. Kekuni Blaisdell.

The meeting at the Helemano Plantation in Wahiawa was the second in a series of six hearings on the Army project. At a public hearing for the brigade Tuesday in Salt Lake, four protesters were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

Army officials said they barred signs to make a less intimidating environment for all attendees. The protesters countered that banning the signs, which are part of their testimony, restricts their First Amendment rights.

“We’re not breaking the law,” said Pete Doktor, one of those arrested last night. “We’re holding up a higher law.”

Terry Kekealani was also arrested.

About 50 protesters, many of whom carried homemade signs, walked to the plantation’s entrance gate last night and met with five private security guards. For almost 30 minutes the protesters chanted, shouted and sang, trying to persuade the guards to step aside.

One man told the guards: “You violate the United States by not permitting us to protest. The United States is violating the United States.” The crowd chanted “Let them through” and “This is not democracy, this is not freedom.” When some protesters began to push, the guards called police.

Army spokesman Troy Griffin said the sign rule is being enforced because the private halls that the Army rented for the public hearings have insisted on peaceful gatherings.

The protesters’ “agenda is to break up the meeting, and we’re here to gather testimony,” he said, adding that the Army “didn’t know the ground rules” of the private halls when they were booked. All six of the Army’s Stryker meetings are on private property.

Paulette Lee, Helemano’s operation manager, said the plantation did not want protesters with signs because of safety concerns.

“You have signs that are on sticks,” she said. “People don’t realize that that can be a weapon.”

None of the protesters’ signs were on sticks.

The Army hopes to acquire 23,000 acres on the Big Island and add 1,400 to the 27,000 acres Schofield Barracks occupies in Wahiawa to build new facilities to accommodate the 310 new eight-wheeled, 19-ton Stryker combat vehicles.

Earlier this month, Army officials released a draft environmental impact statement on the Stryker project. The statement identified at least 500 cultural sites on Big Island and Oahu land intended for use by a Stryker combat brigade. Two of the sites are listed in the Army’s draft environmental impact statement as significant.

The Stryker hearings continue tomorrow at the Makaha Resort and will move to the Turtle Bay Resort on Tuesday. The Big Island meetings will be held Wednesday at Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort and next Thursday at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/10/30/news/story5.html

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

Activists protest plan for Stryker brigade

The group claims the new unit would cause environmental harm

Star-Bulletin staff

A group of Hawaiian activists, environmentalists and religious leaders is opposing the Army’s proposal to base a Stryker combat brigade in Hawaii.

About a dozen members of DMZ-Hawaii/Aloha Aina called on community members yesterday to voice their concerns during Army hearings this week and next.

“We find that the military have not been good stewards of the land,” said kumu hula Victoria Holt-Takamine. “We do not think that there is a need for the state to offer more pristine, valuable land for military training. … Go and find somewhere else to take your Stryker brigade, and go and find someone else’s land to abuse and ruin.”

The Army is at the beginning of a 45-day public comment period on a 1,500-page draft environmental impact statement for the 19-ton armored vehicles.

The Army is proposing to deploy 300 eight-wheeled Strykers in Hawaii and build several live-fire ranges and other projects at a cost of nearly $700 million.

The Army also wants to acquire 23,000 acres on the Big Island and 1,400 acres next to Schofield Barracks for the Strykers.

To reorganize the Army, the Defense Department has proposed the creation of six 3,600-man Stryker brigade units, which will be lighter and more mobile than traditional armored forces. The first four units have been funded, while the last two units, proposed for Hawaii and Pennsylvania, are awaiting approval from the Army.

Kyle Kajihiro, program director for the American Friends Service Committee Hawaii Area Program, said the new Stryker brigade would increase the amount of munitions used in Hawaii by 25 percent, resulting in long-term environmental damage.

Kajihiro said the increased munitions will elevate the amount of hazardous chemicals at the training sites and could result in harm to endangered plant and animal species.

“The military’s environmental track record in Hawaii is abysmal,” Kajihiro said.

Army officials say they can achieve a balance that minimizes or eliminates the impact on Hawaii wildlife, vegetation and cultural resources while satisfying training needs for the Stryker brigade.

According to the Army’s draft statement, there are more than 60 threatened or endangered species at the 27,000-acre Schofield Barracks and its affiliated Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.

Source: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2003/10/28/news/story8.html

Senator Inouye issued a press release today that states:

Senator Daniel K. Inouye announced today that the financial foundation to base one of the Army’s new, more lethal, and lightning-quick Stryker Brigades at Schofield Barracks is included in the more than $330.5 million in federal funds earmarked for 21 military construction projects in Hawaii for Fiscal Year 2004 that begins on October 1, 2003.

Furthermore, the press release states:

While an official decision has not yet been made, Senator Inouye has been assured that one of the six Stryker Brigades will be based in Hawaii, and Schofield Barracks will be building new facilities, adding personnel, and increasing its land area to accommodate the unit.

This indicates that the stationing of the Stryker Brigade in Hawai’i was pre-decided in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and rendering the entire public participation process a meaningless sham.