The man who knocked out a Democratic congressional candidate during a chaotic confrontation on a crowded Hawaii beach says the viral video only captured part of the story — and claims the politician had pulled a knife and threatened to shoot someone.
Kama Homan, a Maui construction business owner with mixed martial arts training, said he stepped in after Kirill Basin, 40, allegedly became aggressive toward several beachgoers on Saturday.
Basin, who is running against Democratic Rep. Jill Tokuda for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District seat, was reportedly blasting loud music when a 61-year-old man asked him to turn it down.
According to Homan, the disagreement quickly spiraled out of control.
Homan claimed Basin threatened to shoot the older man’s wife and began shouting threats at other people nearby.
“I’m like, maybe I should intervene,” Homan told Hawaii News Now. “And then as I got closer and closer, he was just getting more irate and violent.”
Homan said Basin allegedly made statements including, “I’m going to hurt you,” “I can injure you” and “You like to scrap,” while confronting people on the beach.
Video of the incident showed the two men clashing before Basin appeared to swing a beach chair toward Homan.
Homan responded with a powerful punch to Basin’s face, immediately knocking the congressional hopeful unconscious.
Basin fell motionless to the sand as shocked beachgoers looked on. Homan then leaned over him and apparently tried to wake him.
During the aftermath, Homan could be heard calling Basin a “haole,” a Hawaiian term commonly used to describe a white person that can be considered insulting depending on the context.
Homan later claimed Basin had pulled out a knife during the confrontation.
“He ended up pulling the knife out on me, and that was obviously a game changer when I knew he was off,” Homan said.
Homan alleged Basin threw the knife into the ocean. He said he later recovered it and handed it over to police.
Basin’s attorney, however, strongly disputed that account.
“There’s no evidence in any of these videos that have been circulated tremendously that he ever had a knife in his possession,” attorney Brandon Segal said. “He never had a firearm in his possession.”
Segal also reminded the public that the claims against his client remain allegations.
“These are just allegations,” he said. “My client has a presumption of innocence.”
Basin appeared in a Wailuku courtroom Tuesday wearing handcuffs and facing two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening connected to the beach confrontation.
He remained jailed on $1 million bail, an amount Segal described as “outrageous.”
The court also recommended that Basin undergo a mental health assessment.
The latest arrest is not Basin’s first alleged run-in with authorities.
He was reportedly arrested in May on another first-degree terroristic threatening charge after allegedly storming a government building and pulling a gun on officials.
Basin has attracted attention online for his unusual political image, including a red hat carrying the phrase “MAKE AMERICA TRIP AGAIN.”
Homan, meanwhile, said he had no idea the man he confronted was running for Congress.
Asked whether he had been afraid of Basin, Homan gave a blunt response.
“No,” he said. “I didn’t even know who the guy was.”
Homan is a father and the owner of a local construction company. His website says he was nominated for the Maui Chamber of Commerce’s Young Small Businessperson of the Year award in 2024.
He said his guiding principle is simple: “Do what’s right because that’s what we should do.”
The dramatic knockout also caught the attention of Elon Musk.
Reacting to the footage on X, Musk posted the internet acronym “FAFO” — short for “fool around and find out.”