4 arrested as homeless protest at Honolulu Hale

Homeless people and their advocates take a stand over evictions from a beach park

Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 11:51 AM HST

Police arrested four people early today who set up camp at Honolulu Hale to protest the city's eviction of the homeless from Ala Moana Beach Park.

The four were among 100 people including homeless, members of church groups, native Hawaiian groups, homeless advocacy groups and others who marched to city hall from Ala Moana after police began removing the homeless from the park at about 10 p.m. yesterday.

Those arrested included Eileen Joyce, a former homeless woman, who officers carried by her arms and legs into a paddy wagon because she refused to walk. Onlookers shouted, "Don't you hurt her," as police carried her.

Also arrested were 65-year-old Julia Matsui Estrella, who belongs to a church group; Leinati Matautia, a 40-year-old homeless woman; and Utu Langi, 39, who feeds the homeless.

"This kind of stuff needs to be stopped," said Langi from the back of a patrol car. "They treat these people like animals. We need to take a stand."

Some homeless set up their tents on the lawn, while others lay on the concrete walkways. Other protesters held signs for passing motorists on corner of South King and Punchbowl streets that said, "Honk to End Homelessness."

Last week, city officials announced they would close the park nightly until April 27, when a major cleanup will be finished. They said they will determine whether to make it permanent after assessing the trial period. Parks officials said the public was complaining that the homeless had taken over Ala Moana Park.

The park is being closed from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. From April 25 to 27, the park will be shut down all day for bathroom, bench, road and landscaping cleanup.

As the homeless and their supporters set up camp at city hall, more than a dozen uniformed officers and a paddy wagon began staging in a parking lot on the diagonally opposite corner, causing some homeless who feared arrest to leave.

The group and its leaders discussed what they intended to do. One woman who volunteered to be arrested with her 2-month-old child was talked out of it. The group formed a chain, locking arms in solidarity.

At about 11:45 p.m., the officers and the police department's Specialized Services Division, along with city officials moved, in and told protesters they could not stay on the Honolulu Hale premises. They began rousting those who had set up tents and those lying down.

Keoki Miyamoto, City Facilities Maintenance Deputy Director said, "They can protest or do whatever they want but they can't sleep on the premises."

"Do you have somebody here that can tell these people where they can go?" asked Rev. Bob Nakata, a pastor with the United Methodist Church. "There's no place they can go. There are not enough houses."

The protesters complied with police requests to move to the sidewalk, folding up their tarpaulins and tents and hauling their possessions in garbage bags, shopping wagons and small carts.

But a small number were determined to be arrested.

Langi, who belongs to H-5, a faith-based group that provides services to the homeless, told fellow supporters and the homeless: "We need to make a statement. If you're going to meet the mayor tomorrow, good. But some of us need to go down."

Estrella sat down beside Langi, who had returned to lay down in front of the fountain at Honolulu Hale. "I remember my roots, my parents worked on the plantation and struggled," she said, prepared for her arrest.

An observer, Kui Kealoha Kahele Marte, a kumu hula, watched as Estrella was handcuffed and placed in a patrol car, and said: "I think this is a travesty. They have just arrested a kupuna. That could have been any of these men and women's mother or grandmother."

After the last protester was arrested Nakata told the remaining group, "Those who got arrested made a strong statement. We'll thank them when we get back."

All four people arrested were charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Estrella, a member of Island Tenants on the Rise, was freed after her son paid $100 bail.

She said the officer handcuffing her was very nervous and kept asking her if this was okay. She said he said, "I think it helped to be 65 years old."

Langi also was freed after paying $100 bail. Bail for Joyce was set at $1,000 because she refused to give her name when she was arrested, police said.

Bail for Matautia was set at $5,000 because of an outstanding warrant. But according to Langi, she told police the warrant is not for her because she is a victim of identify theft.

Langi and Estrella said they were treated well by the police.

"That's pretty unfair, I used to be a criminal and that's not how they treat you," Langi. "That was five-star treatment last night."

---

---

Evicted Homeless march to City Hall

About 50 homeless and supporters left Ala Moana Beach Park last night to camp at Honolulu Hale

About 50 homeless people and their advocates left Ala Moana Beach Park last night to camp out at Honolulu Hale in protest of the city's new program of closing the park at night.

At about 9 p.m., an hour before the first closure, about two dozen protesters marched from the park to City Hall, while others got in their cars and drove.

They planned to spend the night and hope to deliver a message to Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the morning.

"The whole point is to ask the mayor, 'Where do the people go? Do you have a place for these people?'" said Monique Ocampo, who belongs to the Island Tenants on the Rise advocacy group.

Last week, city officials announced they would close the park nightly until April 27, when a major cleanup will be finished. They said they will determine whether to make it permanent after assessing the trial period. Parks officials said the public was complaining that the homeless had taken over Ala Moana Park.

The park is being closed from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. From April 25 to 27, the park will be shut down all day for bathroom, bench, road and landscaping cleanup.

Some homeless people said they will return.

Steve Brooks spent the weekend and yesterday packing up.

"I'm breaking camp now," said Brooks, who has been living in the park since June after losing his job. "Actually, it's not too much of an effort for me. When they first gave us notice, which was two days ago, I broke down some of my stuff and took it somewhere else to some people I know."

But Brooks, 50, said he is not worried about where he will go. He is more concerned about people like his friend Jenny Brannock, a 59-year-old paraplegic who has been living in Ala Moana Park for about seven months after she could no longer afford rent that skyrocketed to $1,500 and who was on a long waiting list for affordable housing.

"I can understand them wanting to close (the park) down to fix it up, but why don't they have some social workers coming down and helping people like her?" Brooks said, pointing to Brannock.

Brannock started crying when she asked where she would be sleeping when the park closed each night.

"It's hurting me a lot of people, not only me," she said, sitting in a wheelchair with her feet propped up on a picnic table bench. "Don't have anywhere to go tonight."

Brian Ellyson said he will find some place to move during the six-hour park closure and then head back to Ala Moana when the park opens at 4 a.m.

The mood of people in the park since learning about closure was "unhappiness until we found out about the rally," he said. "Now everyone is kind of excited about that."

Ronald Perron, 51, said, "I'm going to camp out at City Hall, and then (Tuesday) I'll probably collect some cans and bottles."

Perron, Ocampo and others said they believe the homeless are actually being displaced because of the Honolulu Centennial Festival on Magic Island this weekend.

"He said he was going to help the homeless. He just ain't helping the homeless," Perron said of the mayor. "We're just going to be overtaking the bus stops, and the mayor don't realize there are just too many of us. We've got to go somewhere and this was the best bet."