Democratic congressional candidate Kirill Basin appeared in a Maui courtroom in handcuffs on Tuesday after allegedly threatening people at a beach before being knocked unconscious by a trained bystander.The 40-year-old, who is running for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, was remanded in custody on two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening following a weekend incident at Keawakapu Beach in South Kihei.A judge in Wailuku kept his bail at $1 million despite objections from defence lawyer Brandon Segal, who called the amount “outrageous.”“These are just allegations. My client has a presumption of innocence,” Segal told reporters.
Noise complaint led to confrontation
According to the Maui Police Department, the incident began outside the Mana Kai Maui hotel when a 61-year-old man asked Basin to lower the volume of his loud music.Police said Basin responded by suggesting he had a gun and threatening to shoot the man’s wife.Video of the incident obtained by Hawaii News Now shows Basin becoming increasingly angry, shouting at people nearby and swinging a beach chair before being knocked to the ground.
Martial arts-trained bystander stepped in
The man who intervened, construction worker and mixed martial arts practitioner Kama Homan, told Hawaii News Now he stepped in after hearing Basin threaten older women on the beach.“I’m like, maybe I should intervene, and then as I got closer and closer, he was just getting more irate and violent and then saying stuff. ‘I’m going to hurt you’ or ‘I can injure you’ or ‘You like scrap’ to the aunties,” Kama told the broadcaster.The situation quickly turned physical when Basin approached him.“He put his hands on me and as soon as he tried to shove me, I hit him with a left and a right and that’s when he stumbled and fell over the chairs,” Kama said. He added that he kept defending himself after Basin swung a beach chair at his head. “Just block it and go for the KO. Just protect myself, which is why I had my hand up and then I adjusted to block the chair.”Kama knocked Basin unconscious with two punches. He later said he had no idea Basin was running for Congress and explained his actions by saying: “You do what’s right because that’s what we should do and that’s my whole motto in life.”
Dispute over knife allegations
Police said Basin also pulled out a knife during the incident, threatened several people and then threw the weapon into the ocean.Kama said the weapon was a five-inch switchblade, which he recovered from the water and handed over to police.“He ended up pulling the knife out on me after the altercation and that was obviously a game changer when I knew he was off,” Kama told Hawaii News Now.Defence lawyer Segal strongly challenged the knife allegations in court, arguing that videos of the incident do not support the claims.“There’s no evidence in any of these videos that have been circulated tremendously that he ever had a knife in his possession. He never had a firearm in his possession,” Segal said.Court records show Basin has previously been arrested in cases involving assault and property damage, including an incident in May in which he allegedly pointed a firearm during an argument with county workers.After Tuesday’s hearing, the court ordered Basin to undergo a formal mental health evaluation.
