In the movie Blue Crush a Pro Bowl quarterback is jumped for being Haole (or a foreigner to Hawaii and pronounced How-lee). He takes his licks and moves on. In real life, people have been killed in Hawaii for being Haole. Just this week a 22-year old thug goes to trial for killing a 34-year old man and potential law school student at the University of Hawaii. Why did Christopher Reuther have to die less than 24 hours after visiting Hawaii? Because he was racially profiled and attacked. His crime? Being white and on a beach typically researched for locals. The Star Bulletin covers the story here.
The case is pretty cut and dry. Christopher Reuther was visiting Hawaii to go to law school. He made the mistake of camping out at Nanakuli Beach Park on the west side of Oahu. After a short time he was confronted by thug Less Schnabel Jr who waited until Reuther was turned to sucker punch him, putting him into a comma. Reuther died a few days after his injuries. What did Schabel do after cowardly punching a man? Well, like a common thug steal stuff from Reuther’s rental car.
There are two disturbing parts to this story. First, thug Schnabel committed a similar crime when he was younger, except the man didn’t die. Due to the liberal Hawaii court system he was on the street to repeat his crime this time killing a man. Second, outside of Hawaii this story is not being covered. If it were a white cop killing a black man I’m sure it would be front news for weeks. Since Reuther was white crimes like this don’t get the attention or justice it deserves. This case is a hate crime and a murder. But since it happened in Hawaii it is being tried as a manslaughter case. Despicable to say the least! As reported by the Star Buletin, here are the events that lead up to this murder:
Reuther, 34, was in Hawaii for a visit and to attend a law school orientation. He arrived in the afternoon. That evening he went to Germaine’s Luau at Campbell Industrial Park. At 11 p.m., he was at Nanakuli Beach Park.
Harold Kaeo, who was camping with six friends at Zablan Beach, testified that he noticed when Reuther arrived in his red Ford Mustang convertible rental car. He said Reuther looked out of place.
“It was unusual to see somebody like that in a place like that,” Kaeo said, “A typical tourist wouldn’t be there.”
He said he and his friends invited Reuther to their tent and asked him whether he would like to smoke some marijuana. And after getting to know him, they invited Reuther to pitch his tent next to theirs.
Because they regarded parts of the beach park dangerous, Kaeo said, he and his friends told Reuther to stay near their tent. But he said Reuther did not listen.
Reuther left the tent and was headed to the parking lot wearing his camera when he encountered Schnabel, Kaeo said. He said Schnabel struck a pose, raising the middle finger of both hands, inviting Reuther to take his picture, which Reuther did.
But Kaeo sensed trouble - “because in my eyes, it looked like a typical setup,” Kaeo said.
So he called out to Schnabel’s companion and told her not do anything stupid and to leave Reuther alone.
Wong, the deputy city prosecutor, said Schnabel’s companion, Nicole Ako, will testify that Reuther took another picture of Schnabel, which upset Schnabel. He said Ako also will testify that Schnabel told Reuther to leave the park but that Reuther did not leave quickly enough.
Loy, the defense attorney, said Ako was too high on crystal methamphetamine that night to remember what happened and too far away to have heard Schnabel’s supposed last words to Reuther.
Kaeo said he watched as Reuther walked to the parking lot and opened the trunk of his car. He said Schnabel came up from behind Reuther, and when Reuther turned around, Schnabel hit him with a punch Kaeo called a “button shot.” He said Reuther spun around, took a few steps and then fell to the ground.
Reuther died and thug Schnabel rummaged through his car and left. Hopefully, justice is served in this case! Sadly, this attack is no uncommon in Hawaii. Just last year an Army soldier who spent two tours in Iraq and his wife were beaten unconsious for a minor car accident.
Last month’s road-rage incident began when an SUV driven by Army Staff Sgt. Andrew Dussell, 26, who has served two tours in Iraq, struck the parked car of Gerald Paakaula, 44, at a shopping center, according to a police affidavit filed in court. Paakaula and his 16-year-old son allegedly assaulted Dussell and his wife, Dawn, 23.
The teenager allegedly shouted an obscenity along with the Hawaiian term for a white person, haole (pronounced “howl-ee”), while attacking the soldier.
The court document says the father, a truck driver, picked up the woman and slammed her to the asphalt. The teenager allegedly kicked the husband’s face as he convulsed on the ground from a punch to the throat. The couple suffered broken noses, facial fractures and concussions.
In another incident Jan. 27, nine white campers in a beach park on the Big Island of Hawaii were beaten by men in their 20s who told the campers to leave the island, the police report says. Hawaii County Police Maj. John Dawrs describes the assailants as “Pacific Islanders.”
Racism is alive in well in Hawaii, but unless you live here you likely have not heard about any of these crimes.
Big Island police are asking for the public’s help in finding a 17-year-old girl reported missing from her Hilo home since April 1.
Less Schnabel Jr was found 