A Democratic candidate seeking a seat in Congress from Hawaii is now reportedly facing serious criminal allegations after authorities say he stormed a government building and threatened county employees with a firearm, culminating in his arrest just hours later.
Kirill Basin, 40, a longshot candidate for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, was taken into custody Friday afternoon following what officials described as a frightening confrontation at a government office in Wailuku earlier that morning.
According to reports, the incident unfolded around 9:30 a.m. when Basin allegedly entered the building and threatened two Maui County workers while armed with a gun. Authorities say he fled the scene afterward, prompting a search that ended with his arrest at his home around 12:30 p.m.
Basin was charged with first-degree terrorist threatening, a serious offense stemming from allegations that he placed government employees in fear during the encounter.
The arrest came amid a series of increasingly unusual and confrontational episodes involving Basin in recent days.
Just one day before the incident, Basin posted on Instagram claiming he had served a lawsuit accusing police officers of torturing him during a previous detention. In the post, he alleged that three officers subjected him to 14 hours of abuse.
“This is the lawsuit I served today. It basically outlines how 3 police officers tortured me for 14 hours,” Basin wrote. “That’s the gist. It’ll never happen to anyone again.”
The lawsuit alleges that police subjected him to “prolonged and deliberate infliction of physical, sexual and psychological abuse” while he was in custody. Court records indicate Basin filed the lawsuit himself and is not represented by legal counsel.
Authorities say Basin’s behavior had become increasingly erratic in the days leading up to Friday’s arrest.
Earlier in the week, he was escorted from a South Maui town hall meeting by police after a dispute involving Maui County Council member Tom Cook and members of Cook’s staff. Officials said the situation did not end there.
After being removed from the event, Basin allegedly confronted Cook’s executive assistant, Jared Agtunong, in the parking lot, requiring police intervention for a second time.
The encounter was followed by a series of messages that Agtunong later cited in a petition seeking a temporary restraining order.
According to the filing, Basin sent a number of cryptic and hostile texts and left a voicemail message after Agtunong declined to answer his call.
“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,” Agtunong wrote in the petition.
He further stated that Basin later sent messages wishing him luck in prison and, in another text, allegedly warned him, “you’re f–ked.”
A judge approved Agtunong’s request for a temporary restraining order within two hours of its filing Friday afternoon.
The latest allegations come just weeks after Basin was arrested on May 2 for disorderly conduct, though few details about that case have been made public.
As authorities continue investigating Friday’s incident, the episode serves as another reminder of how quickly political disputes and personal grievances can spiral into dangerous confrontations. While heated disagreements are nothing new in public life, allegations involving threats and firearms underscore the risks that emerge when conflicts move beyond words and into intimidation.
Basin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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