This Stack is an almost nonstop litany of problems in Hawaii. But I don’t believe in inventing problems that don’t exist. So I’d never call Hawaii violent, even though media like Hawaii Nausea try to turn up the fear meter.
Although I can believe that the rate of this or that kind of crime here does go up, I don’t feel any change, and I suspect the rises are within a standard deviation. Alas, “SD” doesn’t make for clickbait headlines.
I do fear for my life on the streets, but that’s because of drivers who ignore red lights and mopeds and e-bicycles on the sidewalk. Not psycho k!llers.
Brave AI backs up my blasé attitude toward violent crime in Hawaii.
The violent crime rate in Hawaii is significantly lower than the national average, though recent data sources vary slightly based on methodology and year. In 2024, the state recorded a violent crime rate of 218 offenses per 100,000 people, which was 39.4% lower than the U.S. average. Other estimates place the rate as low as 1.84 incidents per 1,000 people (approx. 184 per 100,000), ranking Hawaii as the fifth lowest in the nation for violent crime.
Pearl Harbor aside, the last large outbreak of violence in Hawaii might have been the war of unification, when the army of my island literally fell before the forces of Kamehameha from the island of Hawaii:
With its leadership in chaos, the Oʻahu army slowly fell back north through the Nuʻuanu Valley to the cliffs at Nuʻuanu Pali. Caught between the Hawaiian Army and a 1,000-foot (305-meter) drop, over 700 Oʻahu warriors either jumped or were pushed over the edge of the pali (cliff).
So I was shocked yesterday when I read that
The first calls to the FBI came in just after Christmas Day 2023: Sheri Tanaka was looking for a hitman, an informant said.
At the time, Tanaka, an attorney, was a co-defendant in a high-profile bribery case alongside former Honolulu prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro and one of his top campaign contributors, Dennis Mitsunaga, founder of one of the state’s most politically connected engineering firms. The government alleged that Kaneshiro accepted campaign donations from Mitsunaga and his associates in exchange for prosecuting an employee Mitsunaga was having problems with. Tanaka worked for Mitsunaga.
Their trial was set to begin that February but, according to the informant, Tanaka and her uncle, Michael Irish — a prominent businessman known as the King of Kimchi because he owns several brands that produce the fermented food — wanted someone to “get rid of” U.S. District Court Judge Michael Seabright and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wheat, who was spearheading the prosecution.
The informant told authorities that Tanaka and Irish also wanted their assassin to “take care of witnesses” and burglarize Tanaka’s offices to steal documents she didn’t want prosecutors to find. Some of those witnesses targeted for intimidation and coercion, according to the informant, included Tanaka’s own co-defendants.
No price was too high, the informant said he was told, and Tanaka and Irish ultimately offered to pay $100,000 to whoever took the job.
[…A]s investigators were closing in, Tanaka and Irish, in particular, had figured out that they were being watched. In Irish’s case, he even told an undercover agent posing as a hitman, “we have the FBI on us.”
What the records don’t explain is why the investigation fizzled and why no additional arrests were made, especially since the documents show the FBI was gathering what it described as credible evidence against Tanaka, Irish and their own informant, that included the exchange of money and recorded conversations in which their plan was detailed and discussed.
[…]
Alexander Silvert, a former federal defender, said the public deserves more answers given the gravity of the allegations and the fact that no resolution has been announced.
“When a judge is [allegedly!] threatened and a U.S. attorney is [allegedly!] threatened this isn’t something that should just disappear into a black hole,” Silvert said.
![Disney+ artwork from the 1979 sci-fi movie "The Black Hole"](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!sjIv!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08b895a9-d0b7-4673-bb9e-96e10c8cbcba_1200x674.jpeg "Disney+ artwork from the 1979 sci-fi movie "The Black Hole"")
I’m surprised an attorney left out the word “allegedly”. Twice!
“It leads one to question whether in one way, shape or form the investigation was mismanaged.”
Or dare I say simply shut down? Look at who’s involved:
Keith Kaneshiro, Brave AI explains,
is a former Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney who served two non-consecutive terms, from 1989–1996 and 2010–2020, making him one of the longest-serving prosecutors in the office's history.
He got 80% of the vote in 2016. He is our avatar of justice!
Dennis Mitsunaga, founder of Mitsunaga & Associates, Inc., was a major figure in what I regard as the construction industry, the power behind the curtain that no one dares to investigate. Every federal judge in Hawaii recused themselves from the Mitsunaga case. Perhaps you can guess why now.
Politicians that the industry funds come and go, and some take the fall as scapegoats while the industry remains, ever ready to back a new batch of puppets.
Michael Irish is a part-Korean who (machine translation):
as of 2023 has acquired all old kimchi brands and companies [in Hawaii] except the Keeau Kim Chee brand and is using the recipes of each brand name.
Kimchi is huge in Hawaii.
Those are not nobodies. They are connected.
Sheri Tanaka was a human bridge between her client Mitsunaga and her uncle Irish. Tanaka’s office is in Kāhala, which
is a beautiful and affluent neighborhood on O’ahu Island, in Honolulu, Hawaii; with one of the highest barriers of entry due to it's median price of $3,800,000 and lack of condo options.
A location implying upscale clientele beyond Mitsunaga.
Could further connections I can’t see have created a “black hole”?
A Hipsta Pravda commenter wrote,
It really is incredible. Hawaii politicians and politics have a way of producing stories that sound too bizarre to be true—and this one is on another level.
The FBI apparently had everything:
a) an informant,
b) undercover agents
c) recorded conversations
d) surveillance footage
e) bank records
f) cellphone data
g) an alleged $50,000 cash withdrawal tied to a supposed murder-for-hire plot targeting a federal judge and prosecutor.
Yet..... somehow, after all of that, the investigation was closed without charges. Say what?! That alone deserves some very serious questions.
Beyond whether the plot was real or not. I don’t know. It sounds offmodel for Hawaii, though lack of precedent does not equal lack of existence. Even if it was an informant’s concoction, I still suspect there’s a lot of rot.
And then step back and look at the bigger picture: this was all connected to one of the most extraordinary corruption cases in Hawaii history, involving a former prosecutor, a powerful Honolulu law firm, alleged bribery, and a federal trial that ultimately collapsed in acquittals. Now these FBI records add an entirely new layer of darkness.
What ever the ultimate truth is, Hawaii deserves a much clearer explanation of what actually happened, what the FBI believed, and why the case simply disappeared.
I agree - except for the last sentence. “[D]eserves”? Most people here don’t know and don’t care, and even some of those who do know and care will defend the system. And those who attack the Hawaii system still believe in their pwecious FBI … while presumably favoring ‘sovereignty’, whatever that means (nothing). We want fweeeedumb from eeeevil Europpressive KKKolonialists, yet we also want Big White Daddy to swoop down from the Mainland to clean up our big brown messes. Such incoherent people deserve what they get.
Hawaii is vying for THE most corrupt and morally bankrupt.
YOU CAN DO IT, HAWAII!!
This is why I don’t need Netflix:
We have enough bad stories for a whole season on Netflix!
You don’t need Netflix either. Just keep reading my Substack.
When I run into tactics of corruption my instinct is to try and atomize them to a scale I might use to get my foot in the door. Not to join them but to exploit the same loophole but they always seem to have caveats that keep plebs like me out. Like I can't spent 100$ on lobbying and see the same returns proportionally that others see.
As you say it's perfectly obvious that any large company for whom laws affect profits (which is all of them) should simply line item budget for political investment. Taxes and legal are required anyway so just add an additional third for lobbying/donations etc.
But yeah expecting the law to apply to the powerful is a fundamental misunderstanding of western society.
Are you doing well my friend ? you're obviously posting daily articles but don't interact with your commenters anymore, you don't have too, just a wellness check ;)