A gunman is still at large after a fatal shooting of a Tongan man in Salt Lake City, United States recently.
Police have now launched a homicide investigation into the death of Halapaini Latu Moala near 60 West Temple Street.
Reports said officers arrived on scene found a group of bystanders attempting to give CPR to the 22-year-old victim.
“Despite life-saving measures from the group and first responders, the victim died on the scene”.
Witnesses said the suspect or suspects fled the area before police arrived.
“In this situation, what was a little bit different that we haven’t seen in other homicide cases is there are large groups of community members who are also trying to perform CPR on the victim who had been shot,” SLCPD spokesman Brent Weisberg explained.
“Everyone eventually did scatter and break up and allow officers to get in, but it sounded like it was a challenge for officers to initially get in and provide first aid.”
During the investigation into the shooting, additional officers were called to the area for crowd control and to help keep people from accessing the crime scene. Police said one person was arrested for assault after a fight broke out as officers waited for detectives to arrive.
Another person was arrested for failing to obey police commands when they crossed crime scene tape.
Salt Lake City police say the deadly shooting was the city’s 10th homicide this year.
Anyone with information that may help identify the suspect or help the investigation in any other way is asked to call SLCPD’s non-emergency number: 801-799-3000.
A magnitude 7 earthquake has struck Tonga this morning at 7.20am, authorities said.
No casualties or damage were reported after the quake, which struck out at sea at a depth of 206 kilometres with its epicentre at a distance of 22.9 kilometres south and 176.6 kilometres west.
Tonga Meteorological Services said it “was very deep”.
Reports from residents on social media showed the quake was felt in Tonga’s main island Tongatapu.
COMMENTARY: The Tongan government needs to respond immediately to reports that high school rugby players on Vava’u were beaten by their coach.
Kaniva News has contacted the Prime Minister, who is also the Minister for Education, for comment, but he has remained silent.
Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku
For years international bodies and researchers have been highlighting the appalling levels of violence against children in the Pacific.
Experts say corporal punishment is linked to poor outcomes for children, including child abuse. It is also linked with domestic violence. It affects early brain development.
However, the problem with eliminating corporal punishment is that it is a long-held tradition and people are often unhappy and resentful when the issue is raised. Some religious beliefs are also used to justify it.
According to UNICEF, rates of violence against children in Pacific Island Countries, including at school, are among the highest in the world.
Radio New Zealand has reported that students in Pacific Island countries face violence in schools at a higher rate than the global average. This includes corporal punishment. RNZ said more than half of students in Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu experienced bullying at school compared with a third of children globally.
The teacher and coach who whipped the players is a government teacher and Vava’u High School is a government school. This makes the incident the responsibility of the Minister.
However, the Prime Minister remains silent, which shows the low priority he has given this issue. The level of violence shown on the video is really serious and it needs the government’s immediate response. Hon. Hu’akavameiliku must front up and address the public on this serious issue. His silence and the lack of any statement from the police shows how weak the government is on this issue.
There is information shared on Facebook this week claiming to have come from the coach who flogged the players rendering an apology on his Facebook account. There is also a post saying the winning school which the coach targeted in his fit of rage has accepted an apology from the coach. The post asks the community to leave everything behind as they have sorted it out after 20 teachers arrived from the Vava’u High School and apologised and presented some money as a show of goodwill and expression of regret.
If police and the Minister of Education will not act responsibly and address this issue, it gives a wrong impression to the children that teachers’ violence against them is acceptable. Using the Tongan way of kole fakamolemole (asking apologies from the victims by presenting gifts and involving community leaders or high-ranking members of the victims’ family to speak and ask for apologies on behalf of the culprit) is a good deed. But the problem is that this Tongan way will continue to paint the wrong picture of violence against children because the kole fakamolemole way will always be there to save the teacher. In other words, violent teachers will not be punished to deter them from beating children.
We can see this happening here. The teachers gave money to the school because of the degrading comments the coach in question made against them. We should not be surprised if a similar incident happens again.
It can be debated whether the apology issued over the incident is enough. An apology is an expression of one’s regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another and that’s it. The coach did ask for forgiveness from the victims’ family and the community, but he went further and mentioned a number of achievements he had made in his years of coaching including naming former school players he trained who ended up playing in rugby teams overseas.
Some people might be tempted to interpret this as meaning those students did not complain when he was flogging them in an attempt to get the best out of them. This might be seen as an insult by some people to the players who had been just whipped recently and their family.
The Prime Minister and the police have a case to address. If not, the government could be seen as supporting violence against children.
The Tongan government has been presented with all the evidence it needs about the serious levels of violence experienced by Tongan children, including in school. It has also been made aware of many recommendations on how to tackle the issue.
In 2019 a study led by the UK’s Loughborough University uncovered systemic and cultural abuse and mistreatment of children in families and schools.
The study, which was funded by the European Research Council, was carried out in partnership with charity Ma’a Fafine mo e Famili (For Women and Families) and in partnership with the disability organisation Naunau ‘o ‘Alamaite Tonga (NATA).
Professor Jo Aldridge said routine violence experienced by six-to-17-year-olds included being hit with planks of wood and sticks, whipped, denied food and being forced to carry out tasks, as a form of discipline, by teachers and close family members.
Professor Aldridge said many young people accepted the abuse as part of their lives because it was seen as ‘traditional,’ even if caused them misery.
The report offered a number of recommendations to the Tongan government and organisations which work with children about how to end violence against children.
They included establishing new national policies and laws to address child abuse, based on the principles set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The report also said there should be greater awareness in schools and among school staff that physically abusing pupils is against the law.
The government must simply admit that violence against children is wrong and should not be tolerated, especially when it occurs in government schools. It does not matter whether violence against children is seen by some people as ‘traditional.’ Traditions can be abandoned when they are proven to be wrong. The late ‘Akilisi Pohiva fought for years against the ‘tradition’ that Tonga should be ruled only by the royal family and a tiny group of Nobles. That ‘tradition’ was cast aside in 2010. It is high time the ‘tradition’ of violence against children went the same way.
The police say today’s sentencing of two key figures in the Megaupload case reflects years of work by investigators in New Zealand and the United States.
Megaupload executives Mathias Ortmann (left) and Bram van der Kolk (right) in court during an extradition hearing in Auckland in 2015. Photo: AFP/ Michael Bradley
Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were sentenced today in the High Court in Auckland for their part in Kim Dotcom’s Megaupload enterprise, which offered millions of copyrighted works online.
They had previously pleaded guilty to charges including participating in a criminal group, causing loss by deception and conspiring to dishonestly obtain documents.
Police said Ortmann was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and Bram van der Kolk to two years and six months.
The pair earlier fought extradition to face charges in the United States, but in May last year, in a statement from their solicitor Ortmann and van der Kolk said they had struck a deal and would face charges in New Zealand in return for the US dropping the extradition case against them.
The Megaupload site ran from 2005 to 2012, and police said that along with other associated sites, it enabled millions of songs, movies, TV shows, e-books, video games and computer programmes to be downloaded.
Detective Inspector Stuart Mills said the scale of offending was enormous. Megaupload claimed to have had 180 million registered users at the peak of it’s popularity and averaged 50 million visits a day.
“Megaupload was a global criminal enterprise estimated to have cost copyright holders more than half a billion dollars,” Mills said.
“As one of the largest copyright fraud schemes ever seen, Megaupload operations involved the deliberate and systematic infringement of copyrighted material for financial gain.
“It exploited the work of artists, programmers, and entrepreneurs as well as the organisations and corporations that represented them.”
In 2022, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom said he would continue fighting charges against him and extradition.
The company’s former marketing director Finn Batato, who had also faced charges, died in June last year.
New Zealand and Fiji formalised a military cooperation framework on Wednesday to “effectively cooperate within each other’s territories” to boost the defence partnership between the two nations.
The Status of Forces Agreement outlines accords for greater cooperation between New Zealand and Fiji. Photo: Andrew Little
Defence Minister Andrew Little signed ‘Statement of Intent’ and a ‘Status of Forces Agreement’ with his Fijian counterpart Pio Tikoduadua in Suva.
The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) outlines accords for greater cooperation in areas such as exchange in information, joint-exercises and disaster response among others.
The Statement of Intent on Defence Cooperation sets out the priorities for defence cooperation in areas such as defence training, maritime security and humanitarian assistance.
“Mostly this is about strengthening the relationship between New Zealand and Fiji, and the NZDF [New Zealand Defence Force] and the Fiji military as well”, Little told local media following the signing of the agreement.
“This really reflects the evolution of the relationship between the two forces that goes back many, many years”, he added.
According to a joint media statement from Little and Tikoduadua, the agreement which provides “a legal framework for presence of forces in their respective territories” and reaffirms a “close bilateral relationship”.
The stated goal of the partnership is to elevate Fiji-New Zeeland relations to a new level of expanded strategic cooperation in the years to come based on a foundation of shared values, equal partnership, and achieved through trust and consultation.
“[We] discussed some of the subjects earlier on in our discussions that led to the signing of the Statement of Intent, generally discussing the main areas of our cooperation,” Tikoduadua said.
“We have signed a Statement of Intent that strengthens the relationship that we share from a people to people relationship, and of course through our militaries.”
Tikoduadua said both countries had already been cooperating closely with each other in disaster response operations, citing the recent Cyclone Gabriel which devastated Hawkes Bay, after which, a group of Fijian troops had been dispatched to help with humanitarian efforts.
“New Zealand has always been here during our times of need, particularly after cyclone disaster to have stricken us, he said.
“In a small way we have try to reciprocate with Cyclone Gabriel…I am glad that Fiji has been able to reciprocate.”
Little and Tikoduadua said the closer bilateral relations is guided by the 2022 Duavata Partnership to elevate New Zealand-Fiji relations, and the Pacific Island Forum’s Boe and Biketawa Declaration for greater regional cooperation.
The signing of SOFA comes just over a week after Little signed a similar defence agreement with Japan.
New laws aimed at cracking down on gang activity were used for the first time yesterday following a funeral procession near Whakatāne for a slain Mongrel Mob boss, Justice Minister Kiri Allan says.
The funeral procession for Mongrel Mob leader Steven Taiatini. Photo: LDR / Andrew Warner
Hundreds of motorcyclists accompanied by utes disrupted traffic as they descended on the Bay of Plenty town on Wednesday for the funeral of Ōpōtiki Mongrel Mob Barbarians president Steven Taiatini.
Police today revealed Taiatini died after being hit by a vehicle in Ōpōtiki and a burned-out Holden Colorado 4×4 found on Waiotahe Valley Rd, was likely to have been involved. A homicide investigation has been launched.
Allan, who is also the East Coast MP, said it had been “heart-wrenching and devastating to witness things unfold” in her electorate.
“To have this level of disruption is really hard, acknowledging too the anguish and fear that was going through the town, especially in the early stages.”
Allan said she understood police had used new legislation that allowed them to obtain an urgent warrant if there were fears of gang conflict or if any kind of criminal activity was occurring.
A police operation in Ōpōtiki on Wednesday night resulted in firearms and weapons being seized, and eight gang-related vehicles stopped and searched. Firearms, ammunition and weapons were found in five.
Two people were charged for firearms offences and two were summoned to appear in court for possession of offensive weapons and drug-related charges.
Among other things, the Criminal Activity Intervention Legislation Bill, introduced in March, amended existing law to create new targeted warrants and additional search powers to find and seize weapons from gang members during a gang conflict and expanded the range of offences where police can seize and impound cars, motorbikes, and other vehicles.
It also created a new offence of discharging a gun with intent to intimidate and provides police with the ability to seize cash over $10,000 when found in suspicious circumstances.
Allan said the changes meant warrants could now be applied to geographical areas rather than needing to be applied to individuals.
The changes also provided more powers for penalising people firing a gun to intimidate, or in drive-by shootings, as well as in seizing bikes and cars that were being driven recklessly.
She said it was up to the police how it exercised those powers and the government was making sure police now had the tools it needed to prosecute.
She believed police were resourced well enough to deal with Wednesday’s activity in Whakatāne, which included out-of-town support. More than 100 police officers were involved.
“That has not been a concern from police, that they felt under-resourced.”
She was working with the community and police and ways to support police and the town and communities were at the forefront of her mind, she said.
“We’ve got to let the police do what they need to do, there are a range of operational decisions they need to make.
“It’s not a time to make big, grand political statements whilst there is a really live, ongoing issue.”
Police have been approached for comment.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
A daughter who lamented her mother and granddaughter’s horrific death in disbelief has passed away a month after the tragedy.
Vika Taukolo
Vika Taukolo’s death on June 6 came after her 82-year-old mother Seluvaia Taukolo and her five-year-old granddaughter Victoria Grace died in a house blaze in Tofoa on May 6.
Reporting the fatality on her Facebook account at the time, 59-year-old Vika wrote
“Tragedy struck today, and the feeling is not only overwhelming but there’s a sense of loss that cannot be explained”.
“There’s a void that cannot and will never be filled.
“I can only thank God for the eternal plan of salvation that has and will always be a comfort to me.
“Mate he ‘ofa atu mom and Victoria Grace. your smiling and loving face will be forever engrained in our hearts”.
Meanwhile, tributes are pouring in after her death.
“It’s been so so long since the last time and even longer now that you’ve passed but rest assure we will all reunite in that glorious Eventide”, a commenter wrote on Facebook.
“I love you dear friend and may you Rest In God’s love”.
“May Vika rest peacefully in the loving arms our our God Almighty”, one commenter wrote.
“What??!! Wow, I’m so sad to hear that. Dear Vika, such a sweet girl. Oh my heart. She has suffered so many losses. When will she get a break”.
Vika’s body was expected to be laid to rest today at a cemetery in Tofoa.
Vika, the eldest of her siblings, lost his brother Motekiai Taukolo in 2021. Her younger brother Mofuike Taukolo died a year earlier.
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A documentary about one of Tonga’s leading punakes will be screened at Hoyts cinemas in Auckland on July 14, the public holiday to mark Matariki in New Zealand.
The film will feature the story of Sir Sōfele Kakala, who held a Papal knighthood bestowed by the late Pope John Paul II.
Sir Sōfele Kakala. Photo/Supplied
Director Neka ‘Aipolo said the film was intended to inspire the next generations of the Tongan people with a powerful story of one man’s musical and spiritual legacy.
Sir Sōfele was awarded a Papal knighthood for his work writing music, including 12 masses, for the Catholic church in Tonga.
He also wrote music for the schools where he taught, for the royal Tongan family, for villages and other churches. He also founded the Kava Social Club which spread across the globe, including 15 Fa’onelua Clubs in the United States alone.
Sir Sōfele was born in the village of Lapaha on March 21, 1916 and died on September 30, 1991. He attended Catholic primary school and the Apifo’ou secondary school at Ma’ofanga, where he was a member of the choir and brass band and taught for many years.
In his study of brass band music in Tonga, musicologist Dr David M. Kammerer described him as “a mature and highly respected composer, music educator, and church choirmaster.”
Kammerer described his brass band training as a key component of his artistic development, because it gave him more intensive exposure to a richer harmonic vocabulary than that experienced by the typical Tongan composer of his era.
Along with Tonga College’s Sione Tu’ifua he served as a musical collaborator with Queen Sālote and adapted her hiva kakala compositions for use by their bands.
After concluding his 40-year teaching career in 1975, he was appointed by Tonga’s bishop to serve as music supervisor for the entire diocese of Tonga, while continuing to serve as music director at St. Michael’s Church.
While he was a prolific composer, Sir Sōfele also contributed to the development of musical theory, especially as it applied to Tonga.
He appears to be the first Tongan professional musician and composer who wrote what he called Taimi Faka-Tonga (Tongan time or Tongan rhythm). It is similar to the normal triplets in music theory, or the three-note pattern that fills the duration of a typical two-note pattern or minim.
The three-note pattern is a set of three crochet notes. However, he said that in the Taimi Faka-Tonga, the triplets were now a six-quaver note pattern that filled the duration of the typical two-note pattern instead of the crochet notes. Writing in his Vikia‘A e ‘Eiki hymn for the Catholic church, he said he came across the Taimi Faka-Tonga in his music works and realised that the rhythm appeared to have not been used in any other places except Tonga only.
He said the rhythm was mostly used in the songs for the Tongan lakalaka group dance, especially in the sipa or chorus of the lakalaka song. It was largely used in the songs for the me’etu’upaki and ‘otuhaka dances.
He also contributed to Tongan music theories by making the glissando a symbol to mark the part in the ‘i’ia ‘i’ia lyrics of the Me’etu’upaki song. Glissando means the vocal has to glide from one pitch to another. In the Me’etu’upaki case, the vocal is going down after the first note for the ‘i’ia is sung with the glissando symbol written as a zigzag line placing diagonally to the right side below the first note of the ‘i’ia.
He will return to its Christchurch campus as a distinguished professor.
The university said professor Helen Nicholson would continue as acting vice-chancellor until a permanent replacement was found following a global search.
