I completed my political platform for Hawaii and the United States when I was 21 years old. At the time, I accepted two negative aspects in the life of politicians: 1. You must be strong and be able to handle criticism, anger, and jealousy; and 2. You must be willing to die for the sake of what positive goals you want to achieve for humanity and the world.
On Sunday, September 13, 2009 at about 10:55 A.M., I was at Long Drugs at Pearl City to buy a couple of things before going to my parent’s house to feed “Stretch” (family dog – Doberman/Australian Shepard) and then to my good friends Brandon and Ellen’s wedding shower at Treetop Restaurant. While waiting at the cashier line, a man in his twenties or thirties with dark complexion started swearing at me and threatening to harm me. He felt that I shouldn’t be in office. He kept calling me me out. There were moms and dads, and grandmas and grandpas in line with me, but he kept swearing at me regardless. He paced by me and stood right by the entrance where I would have to leave. One lady tried to get security. As soon as I got my change, I walked straight up to this guy and reached my hand out for a handshake. He didn’t grab it. He continued his anger towards me. I listened and responded. After my response, he wanted me to “just go.” He didn’t follow through on his threats against me. Despite being upset with his behavior, I took the higher road, patted his shoulder, and left.
I have had people threaten my life in the past, but this was the first time it happened in front of a crowd. In the past, a middle aged man threatened to shoot me with his shotgun. As a politician, we attract many good people who want to better the world. However, we also attract some people who take out their anger and frustration on us. There are also others who are jealous or just hate us for the sake of hating. This part of politics is the most draining next to my political opponents who do whatever it takes to try and take me, my group, and allies down.
I have a hard time understanding on how people can hate me so much or even wish me dead even though they don’t know me? The last Hawaii politician to be assasinated was Senator Larry Kuriyama. On October 23, 1970, Senator Kuriyama attended a political rally of hundreds of people including Governor John A. Burns and then drove home. As soon as he entered his garage at about 11 P.M., he was shot five times by someone with a gun that had a silencer.
My profile has escalated since I became the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, making decisions on highly publicized and often controversial issues. I am on television and in the newspapers often, thus, people now recognize me a lot more. Like other politicians in Hawaii, I am easily accessible and have no security. Specifically, there are a couple of things that place me in the middle of negativity such as my support of legislation against crime and my decision to expand equal rights for the same-sex community, in addition to any other political or life decision I make that infuriates individuals. All it takes is for a person wanting to get back at me for my anti-crime work, a radical religious person who believes I am leading people to hell, or a person who hates me for my political or life actions, to cross the line of threats to actually follow through to see me dead.
JON RIKI KARAMATSU 