In regards to the protest on Maunakea, and the claims that the USA illegally annexed Hawaii, and that the State of Hawaii is what we hear so often referred to as a “fake state.”

To me, it seems a bit of a double standard when on two separate occasions we have gone to the mountain to gain access to the summit, and we asked the protesters to please move the cones, so that we may pass, as we have a cultural tradition to go up to the summit to gather snow for our keiki.

The response today that we captured on video was the protesters hollering for the nearby police to move us off of the road. Six times the kia’i that were managing traffic control at the summit road beckoned for the police to move us while we were in our car negotiating with them to move the cones, and their plea to the police was to come and move us so that we were not “blocking the road.”

Why would people who believe in obstructing a public road, believe it is not OK for us to do the same thing? Not only that, why would they believe that it is a proper response to the situation to beckon the police to come and remove us from our place on the road?

Do they or do they not believe that the police have jurisdiction on that road? Do they or do they not believe that the state of Hawaii is not legitimately organized by the USA?

This double standard of taking money and assistance from state organizations like DHHL, OHA, and the police, and then decrying that the police, the state, and the USA are “fake” is beyond hypocritical.

Beyond that, I personally believe their version of history, regarding the overthrow of the monarchy, the Republic of Hawaii, and the eventual annexation of Hawaii is equally faulty as their logic regarding the double standard that I described above.

I will save that discussion for another time, but it is a discussion worth having.

Also, a video from Dec. 13 where the kia’i who was at the mountain misrepresented a different visit that was made to the kupuna tent at the protest site. Online they passed around pictures of the license plates of the car that parked there, and they made a lot of inflammatory claims that my friend Lisa Malakua had drove erratically to the site, got out, swore at the protesters, and then threw “something” at the kupuna, and drove off.

But the reality is in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYfpmVRfD5g

I posted at the end, the Facebook post that was made at Big Island Thieves that went viral, claiming that Lisa had done these horrible things.

Lisa and Mike are kanaka. Mike was born and raised on Hawaii Island. And we were nothing but respectful.

Ryan Thompson is a resident of Pahoa.

Published at: https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2019/12/16/opinion/my-turn-fake-state-or-fake-history/