Two arrested in assault on gay campers
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
Two men face attempted murder charges in connection with a weekend attack on gay campers, including one who fought for hate-crimes legislation awaiting the governor's signature, at Polihale State Park on Kaua'i
Memorial Day weekend at the park began as a gay-pride celebration, complete with rainbow flags and colorful banners decorating tents at the campsite on the remote beach at the end of a dirt cane-hauling road on the western side of the island.
About 20 campers pitched tents around a bonfire and stayed up until the 'ukulele tunes ended and the tiki torches began to fade.
But the weekend ended in the arrests of Orion Macomber, 19, and Eamonn Carolan, 18, who face felony charges including attempted murder, terroristic threatening, assault and harassment. They are being held in police custody, each in lieu of $250,000 bail.
They are accused of taunting campers with anti-gay slurs, setting one sleeping camper's tent on fire, attempting to set more fires and trying to run over a group of campers with a speeding car.
The attack came less than 24 hours after Gov. Ben Cayetano said he would sign a hate-crimes bill. The governor promised to sign the bill "even though in Hawai'i we do not have the problem yet."
"It's ironic that the governor said we don't have a problem," said Martin Rice, 52, of Kapa'a, Kaua'i, who was among those who fought for hate-crime legislation. He said he was roused from his sleep at 3:30 a.m. Saturday when the attack began. "If anyone was wondering whether hate crimes exist in Hawai'i, this is a prime example."
Kaua'i County police referred to the crime as a "hate-crime incident" in a statement issued yesterday, but, "these crimes are serious no matter what the motivation of the person was," Deputy Prosecutor Craig DeCosta said.
Police in Hawai'i have resisted the "hate crime" label, and until this year, lawmakers have turned down measures that would treat perpetrators of the same crimes differently based on motivation.
Cayetano, who Friday announced that he would sign the hate-crimes bill into law, was unaware of the weekend incident, said Kim Murakawa, his spokeswoman.
The pending legislation, which would increase potential penalties for felony offenders who target their victims on the basis of sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin, disability or ethnicity, will not be used in this case because it is not yet in effect.
However the case is prosecuted, it is the kind of crime gay-rights organizations have been saying has existed under the surface for years, said Carolyn Golojuch, president of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
"It's necessary for us to call it like it is," she said. "If they were just going to go in and steal a couple of bottles of wine, they wouldn't have had to cover the place with kerosene and use the verbiage they did. They did it not just because they were any other campers on the beach. They did it because they were gay campers. First they took the flag with the Lambda logo and the rainbow background, and then they came back in. That was premeditated. It wasn't a random act."
Camper Jason Yaris, 39, of Lihu'e, Kaua'i, remembers being roused on the pitch-black, moonless night. He said he won't forget the hateful name-calling of "Faggots!" and "God told us to kill all faggots!" but he was more afraid of the violence. "Somebody could have died," he said.
In addition to the fires, Yaris recalled the assailants turning a tiki torch into a weapon, holding it out the window of the speeding car as they zoomed toward Yaris and a group of about nine other men. One camper hit the car with a shovel as the men inside yelled anti-gay slurs, he said.
The campers' cell phones didn't work, so they went to an emergency station down the road to call the police. One camper was able to make out a license plate of the fleeing car, and police who responded found the suspects near the scene, asleep in their car, along with two cans of kerosene that had been taken from the camp site, police said.
Four men reported minor injuries, including burns, cuts and one man who said he was kicked while he slept on the beach.
"I am very shocked that it wasn't worse," Yaris said. "Somebody could have been burned if we hadn't woken up. But, you know, I'm not going to live in fear."
The incident raises concern, but it is isolated, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua'i Visitors Bureau. The bureau will work with the mayor's office and the state to decide whether they can make the isolated park any safer, she said. "It is, fortunately, very rare," she said. "But one time is one time too many."
Rice said he walked away from the weekend comforted only that police made arrests and that his friends were all right. "The message is there are consequences for this type of behavior," he said. "This just shows you the level of ignorance out there. It's just sad."
Staff writer Tanya Bricking can be reached at 525-8026, or at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled Lihu'e.
