As many as 70 people marched from Stadium Park in Moiliili to the Hawaii Convention Center Tuesday afternoon to remember Kollin Elderts, who was shot and killed in Waikiki on Saturday.
The protesters included members of Occupy Honolulu and . They said the march and protest were not directly about APEC.
But, they made clear that they are suspicious about the shooting because a U.S. State Department federal agent has been charged with the crime.
“This is about Kollin,” said Carolyn Hadfield of World Can’t Wait. “This is out of respect for the family. But this is linked to APEC. One of our own people was killed by an APEC agent. We want to know what happened.”
Peaceful, Civil
World Can’t Wait and Occupy Honolulu have been at the forefront of anti-APEC protests. More are planned this week.
But Tuesday’s event, prompted by the shooting, was not planned.
More than two dozen police officers apparently got the word, because they met the protesters at the beginning of the march at King and Isenberg streets.
About 20 cops were on bikes, identifiable in bright yellow shirts. Another half dozen or so were dressed in aloha shirts with arm bands identifying that they were with the Honolulu Police Department.
And, well over a dozen reporters and cameramen were on hand as well.
Things sent smoothly, however.
Hadfield made it clear to protesters that the march would be peaceful and that there would be no confrontation with police. The police, meanwhile, blocked off intersections so that the protesters could march down King Street to McCully Street to Kapiolani Boulevard unimpeded.
Drivers along King and McCully honked their support. Homeless people waved. Dogs barked from behind fences. Tourists from a bus took pictures of the march as they drove by.
‘Justice for Kollin’
The march stopped on the sidewalk across from the Convention Center, at the corner of Kapiolani and Kalakaua Avenue, near a strip club called Club Rock-Za.
Protesters waved their signs and chanted, “Remember Kollin Elderts, Justice for Kollin now!”
On the other side of the streets, which were closed to traffic and pedestrians, Convention Center employees and APEC officials stared back. A lawyer for ACLU of Hawaii stood nearby.
Kyle Kajihiro, a well-known Hawaii peace activist with DMZ Hawaii/Aloha Aina, spoke through a microphone connected to a small, portable public-address system.
“We think this tragedy symbolizes what APEC’s policies are doing around the world,” he said, referring to Elderts’ death.
After about 15 minutes, Kajihiro and Hadfield announced that some protesters would continue marching down Kalakaua to the McDonald’s restaurant on Kuhio Avenue where the shooting took place.
“This is a solemn affair,” said Kajihiro. “Somebody died.”
As soon as some of the protesters arrived at the McDonald’s, about a half-dozen police were waiting.
The group gathered around a lawn and on a sidewalk and held hands for a moment of silent reflection. One protester laid Ti leaves in front of a memorial for Elderts, while another placed a bouquet with three Ti leaves.
And with that, some protesters continued on down to Kapiolani Park, where sits a statue of Mahatma Gandhi.
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About the Author
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Chad Blair is the politics editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on X at .