A Democratic congressional candidate from Hawaii has been taken into custody following a reported incident involving a firearm threat at a government facility.
Kirill Basin, 40, who is running for the 2nd Congressional District in Hawaii, is accused of threatening two employees of Maui County on Friday morning. The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m., and Basin was apprehended after evading authorities for several hours.
The specific motivation behind Basin’s alleged actions inside the government building, as well as the identities of the officials he reportedly threatened, remain unclear. However, police have noted that this event was preceded by a series of unusual behaviors exhibited by Basin.
Just two days prior to his arrest, Basin had been removed from a community meeting in South Maui. During the meeting, he reportedly engaged in a heated dispute with Councilmember Tom Cook and his team.
Jared Agtunong, the executive assistant to Cook, claimed that after Basin was escorted out of the town hall, he approached Agtunong in the parking area, prompting police involvement.
Agtunong has since filed for a restraining order against Basin, citing a barrage of inappropriate and enigmatic text messages he received from Basin before the altercation, according to Honolulu Civil Beat.
He alleged that when he ignored a call from Basin, he was sent texts ‘telling me that I’m a piece of trash’ and that ‘I should think of my family’ as he insisted he call him back, Agtunong said in the restraining order filing.
He said Basin continued messaging him for hours, including Basin ‘wishing me luck with prison’ and warning him, ‘You’re f***ed.’
Kirill Basin, 40, a longshot Democratic candidate for Congress in Hawaii was arrested after walking into a government building and allegedly threatening officials with a firearm
Days before his arrest, Basin also allegedly got into a heated argument with Maui County Councilmember Tom Cook, and Cook’s assistant Jared Agtunong (seen together) filed a restraining order against him
Agtunong’s restraining order was filed at 3pm Friday, around two hours after Basin was arrested for allegedly threatening government workers.
A judge granted Agtunong’s request for a temporary restraining order within two hours of it being filed in court.
According to court records cited by the Honolulu Civil Beat, Basin was also arrested for disorderly conduct on May 2.
On Thursday, Basin filed a lawsuit regarding that earlier arrest against Maui Police Chief John Pelletier and Maui County, alleging that he was wrongfully arrested.
He alleged that authorities subjected him to ‘prolonged and deliberate infliction of physical, sexual and psychological abuse’ while he was detained.
Court records showed Basin filed the lawsuit without an attorney and is representing himself, and he took to his campaign’s Instagram account to announce his action against officials.
‘This is the lawsuit I served today. It basically outlines how 3 police officers tortured me for 14 hours,’ Basin wrote in the Instagram post.
‘That’s the gist. It’ll never happen to anyone again.’
Basin, 40, is a candidate for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District
Basin was previously arrested for disorderly conduct on May 2, after which he filed a lawsuit accusing police of ‘torturing’ him in custody
Following Basin’s arrest on Friday for allegedly threatening officials with a gun, Pelletier said in a statement: ‘The Maui Police Department will not compromise public safety, and incidents of this nature are taken extremely seriously in Maui County.
‘I am extremely proud of the quick response and professionalism displayed by our personnel, which helped ensure a peaceful resolution.’
Basin was arrested for terroristic threatening in the first degree, and police said additional charges are pending review, reports Hawaii News Now.
The Daily Mail has contacted Cook and Agtunong for comment on the alleged altercation, and the Maui Police Department for a response to Basin’s lawsuit.
