Democrat goes off the rails, allegedly flashing gun at county employees in Hawaii



A troubled Democratic congressional candidate in Hawaii has been arrested after allegedly brandishing a firearm at county employees.

At around 9:30 a.m. on Friday, a suspect later identified as 40-year-old Kirill Basin marched into a county building in Wailuku and began "brandishing a firearm and engaged in a verbal altercation with County employees," prompting a call to dispatch at approximately 10:57 a.m., according to a press release from the Maui Police Department.

The alleged gun incident on Friday is but the latest in a series of apparently bizarre events involving increasingly aggressive behavior from Basin.

The county has not explained the 90-minute gap between when the suspect first arrived and when police were finally called, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.

Basin was arrested in Kihei around 12:30 p.m. and taken into custody without incident, police said. He was later charged with felony first-degree terroristic threatening.

"The Maui Police Department will not compromise public safety, and incidents of this nature are taken extremely seriously in Maui County," said a statement from Chief John Pelletier. "I am extremely proud of the quick response and professionalism displayed by our personnel, which helped ensure a peaceful resolution."

Jail records indicate Basin has since bonded out of custody.

Basin's campaign told Blaze News:

Kirill Basin denies that he brandished a firearm or threatened anyone. According to Mr. Basin, the item being referenced was an unloaded pellet gun inside his backpack, with no pellet magazine in it. He states that it was never removed from the backpack, and that the individual making the accusation only saw it inside the bag.

The campaign is deeply concerned that the public description of this matter omits critical facts and presents a one-sided version of events before the evidence has been reviewed. Mr. Basin is presumed innocent. He intends to fight the charge and expects the facts, including available video, witness accounts, police records, body camera footage, booking records, and medical documentation of his injuries, to be reviewed through the proper legal process.

RELATED: Hawaii tells Supreme Court our rights should exist only with permission

Handcuffs and fingerprint card; Daniel Tamas Mehes/Getty Images

The alleged gun incident on Friday is but the latest in a series of apparently bizarre events involving increasingly aggressive behavior from Basin.

On Wednesday, Basin had to be forcibly removed from a South Maui town hall meeting, police said, after he engaged in "a verbal altercation with Council Member Tom Cook and staff members."

As a result of some continuing alleged interactions in the parking lot outside the town hall, Jared Agtunong, Cook's executive assistant, successfully petitioned for a temporary restraining order against Basin on Friday, the Civil Beat reported.

The petition alleged that Basin has also badgered Agtunong with threatening texts and phone calls, the Civil Beat added.

"I did not answer Basin’s phone call, but he left a message telling me that I’m a piece of trash, said I should think of my family, and insisted I call him back," the filing said, according to the outlet. "In additional texts sent on the same day, Basin wished me luck with prison, then at 9:00 p.m., Basin’s text said 'you’re f**ked.'"

Then on Thursday, the day after the outburst at the town hall but a day before his arrest for alleged terroristic threatening, Basin filed a lawsuit alleging he has been the victim of police brutality, including "prolonged and deliberate infliction of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse," the Civil Beat reported.

The lawsuit "basically outlines how 3 police officers tortured me for 14 hours," Basin wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday. "That’s the gist. It’ll never happen to anyone again."

Basin was also arrested for disorderly conduct on May 2.

As the press release from Maui PD states, Basin is running for Congress. He has filed to run as a Democrat in the 2nd Congressional District of Hawaii.

Records with the Hawaii Office of Elections revealed that Basin was just issued an official 2026 candidate report last Tuesday.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

'Complete disgrace': JD Vance issues ultimatum to states to crack down on Medicaid fraud



Vice President JD Vance, who chairs the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, announced on Wednesday the first major steps to compel states to crack down on Medicaid fraud nationwide.

During a press conference Wednesday on anti-fraud initiatives, Vance declared that the Trump administration would be “very aggressively” encouraging states to take fraud concerns more seriously.

'So these letters are the first step, the first effort to try to force these states to get serious about prosecuting fraud.'

He explained that the U.S. Medicaid system is run like 50 separate systems.

“The federal government pays most of the Medicaid money, but then each of the individual states actually administers the Medicaid program,” Vance stated.

Despite the federal government generously funding Medicaid Fraud Control Units, responsible for detecting and eliminating fraud, some states are not using them, Vance stated. He highlighted his point by providing examples.

Vance stated that Hawaii, a state that has received billions of taxpayers’ dollars through the Medicaid system, had not made a single fraud conviction or indictment “over the last few years.”

“That means that if you’re committing fraud in Medicaid in Hawaii, at least up until now — hopefully now they’re going to take it seriously — you have had effectively free rein from the government of Hawaii to commit as much fraud as you want,” Vance stated. “That is a complete disgrace.”

RELATED: Walz tries to take credit for raids on day cares in Minnesota — and Kash Patel humiliates him

JD Vance. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Vance explained that New York, which has a $100 billion Medicaid program, has had only nine indictments over the last year.

The vice president compared New York, a Democratic-led state, to Indiana, a Republican-led state. He noted that despite Indiana having only a third of New York’s population, it has pursued more than four times as many indictments during the same period.

Vance stated that the federal government is withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California. He said that the state has “not taken fraud very seriously,” resulting in California and American taxpayers being defrauded.

RELATED: ‘No amount of fraud is too big or too small’: Vance’s anti-fraud task force targets every crook stealing from taxpayers

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Vance announced that 50 state Medicaid programs would be receiving a letter requiring them to demonstrate that they are “effectively and aggressively prosecuting” fraud. If they fail to do so, their anti-fraud units will no longer receive federal funds.

“We encourage people to work with us. We want to help you use technology and other tools to get rid of the fraud, to get to the root of the fraud. We want to help you,” Vance stated. “But we can only help these state programs if those state programs are willing to help themselves. So these letters are the first step, the first effort to try to force these states to get serious about prosecuting fraud.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

New Mexico And Utah Target ‘Homewrecker’ Laws That Protect Cheaters’ Spouses And Kids

If the Utah legislation succeeds, which it’s on track to do, that will leave only four states with alienation of affection laws on the books.

In A Big Win For Free Speech, Judge Blocks Hawaii Law Censoring Political Satire

The Democrat-led law targeted the Babylon Bee and other satirical sites, claiming their content risks 'changing ... voter behavior.'

Hawaii tells Supreme Court our rights should exist only with permission



Something shocking just happened between Hawaii — a state that already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation — and the Supreme Court, and Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is sounding the alarm.

In defense of a sweeping gun restriction, Hawaii argued that Americans’ rights only exist if someone else gives permission, citing "Black Codes" written to disarm freed slaves as “historical tradition.”

This means that gun owners can’t carry on private property, unless the owner explicitly allows it.

“That means your constitutional right only exists if somebody else says yes. And the judges are like, ‘I’m sorry, how are you doing the math on this one?’ And Hawaii steps up to the microphone and says, ‘Yeah, your honor, don’t worry, history supports us on this,’” Glenn says.


The initial Black Code law that Hawaii’s new law is modeled after was written after the Civil War, and it was meant to disarm newly freed slaves so they were unable to defend themselves from mobs, the clan, or corrupt authorities.

“People who normally recoil from Black Codes, you know, like garlic with a vampire, suddenly embrace them because it helps restrict guns,” Glenn explains.

“But the case isn’t really about guns,” he says. “And that’s what I think everybody who is analyzing this case is missing. It is not about guns. It’s about whether your rights exist before government or only after permission is granted.”

“Hawaii says your right exists if someone else allows it. The Constitution says no, no, your rights exist because you exist and you’re free. And the court’s being asked to answer the question, do we define American liberty by its highest principles? Or by its darkest moments?” he continues.

“And once you use poisoned history to limit rights, rights stop being rights,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

Here’s What Jim Jordan And Congressional Republicans Need To Ask Jack Smith On Thursday

The weaponization of the DOJ against Republicans won’t stop until the depths of the problems are known.

SCOTUS Scolds Hawaii For ‘Relegating’ Americans’ Second Amendment Rights To ‘Second-Class Status’

You're 'relegating the Second Amendment to second-class status,' said Justice Alito.

Gun Rights Attorney Reminds Sonia Sotomayor Hawaii Is Part Of United States

'Part of the United States'

Left-Wing Dark Money Giant Funds Dem Lawsuits Against Oil Companies—and Trainings for Judges on How To Handle Those Cases

The New Venture Fund (NVF), a behemoth left-wing dark money charity, wired $2.3 million last year to the law firm that dozens of Democratic prosecutors have contracted to spearhead high-stakes climate litigation against oil companies, according to its latest tax filings. At the same time, it bankrolled a group that advises judges on how to handle those cases.

The post Left-Wing Dark Money Giant Funds Dem Lawsuits Against Oil Companies—and Trainings for Judges on How To Handle Those Cases appeared first on .

Oregon considers transportation tax hike on EVs to save government jobs



In an effort to prevent mass layoffs at the Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek (D) is proposing a new, mandatory tax program for electric vehicles. While Republicans say the governor's proposal would be unnecessary if the state managed its money well, the tax proposal is set to be considered today in a special session announced last month.

Oregon is attempting to fill a $354 million budget gap for transportation infrastructure construction and repairs, possibly resulting from vehicles becoming more fuel-efficient.

'We invite Democrats to join us in funding essential services without raising taxes, to stand with Oregonians who cannot afford to shoulder more costs.'

“This could still be prevented today, without a special session, if Democrats made the decision to use existing revenue from the emergency board. We can still protect these jobs without raising taxes — and we should,” Oregon House Republican Leader Christine Drazan said last month. "We invite Democrats to join us in funding essential services without raising taxes, to stand with Oregonians who cannot afford to shoulder more costs.”

RELATED: Out of juice: Only 5% of US car buyers want an electric vehicle

Christine Drazan, former Oregon gubernatorial candidate and current House Republican Leader.Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

The proposal, according to the AP, includes an EV road-usage charge that is equivalent to 5% of the state’s gas tax. It also includes raising the gas tax by six cents to 46 cents per gallon, among other fee increases.

EV drivers would be required to enroll in a pay-per-mile system based on road usage. They could either pay 2.3 cents per mile or a flat $340 annual fee, with a break-even point just under 14,800 miles per year.

ODOT policy adviser Scott Boardman said drivers would have several options for the government to track their mileage, including a smartphone app and the vehicle's telematics technology.

Oregon's existing system, OReGO, which was launched on July 1, 2015, is currently a voluntary program. Kotek's proposal would mark a departure from this system by making it mandatory. Skeptics warn that this may discourage car buyers from considering buying electric vehicles in the future, with the program set to take effect starting in 2027 and extending to hybrids in 2028.

If it passes, Oregon will join Hawaii as the only states to begin a mandatory pay-per-mile program for electric vehicles. Oregon lawmakers will debate and vote on the bill, which requires a supermajority in both the House and Senate to pass.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!