HONOLULU (AP) 鈥� A tourist from Washington state pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges accusing him of hurling a coconut-sized rock at an and was ordered to stay away from Hawaii beaches.
Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, of Covington, Washington, was in U.S. District Court in Honolulu Wednesday, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal. U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom Trader allowed him to remain free pending the criminal case but ordered him to stay away from beaches and marine wildlife while in Hawaii.
鈥淵ou’re not going to the beach, you understand that,鈥� Trader told Lytvynchuk, who responded that he understood.
Lytvynchuk declined to comment after the hearing.
One of his defense attorneys, Myles Breiner, said previously his client was trying to protect sea turtles and has since been physically assaulted, threatened and doxed.
Earlier this month, a witness recorded what prosecutors say was a video of him throwing the rock at a Hawaiian monk seal at a Maui beach. He later made arrangements to surrender in the Seattle area as special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were seeking to arrest him, prosecutors said.
The video drew widespread condemnation and demands for prosecution in Hawaii, including from Maui鈥檚 mayor. Scientists identified the seal as an adult male known as 鈥淩404,” NOAA said.
According to prosecutors, a state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer investigated a report of Hawaiian monk seal harassment in Lahaina, the community that was largely destroyed by a . A witness showed the officer video of the seal swimming in shallow water while a man watched from shore.
The video showed Lytvynchuk throwing the rock, described by a witness as the size of a coconut, directly at the seal, narrowly missing its head, prosecutors said in a criminal complaint.
When a witness confronted Lytvynchuk, he said 鈥渉e did not care and was 鈥榬ich鈥� enough to pay any fines,鈥� according to the complaint.
Afterward, a man 鈥渂rutally assaulted鈥� Lytvynchuk, Breiner said. Lytvynchuk declined to file a police report on the assault, the attorney said.
Breiner explained his client had been to Hawaii previously and was familiar with sea turtles, but not Hawaiian monk seals. Lytvynchuk is a fisherman and thought the seal was an aggressive sea lion, the lawyer said.
鈥淪o his response was not to hurt this monk seal, but to get it away from the turtles,鈥� Breiner said.
The incident shows NOAA must do more to educate the public about protecting , Hawaii’s U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Since the video surfaced, Lytvynchuk has faced death threats and doxing, including receiving a package at his home containing what appeared to be feces, Breiner said.
He said his client is being treated unfairly because he is a white outsider. 鈥淭he vast majority of attacks on monk seal and turtle are by locals,” he said.
Lytvynchuk is charged with violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species. Only 1,600 remain in the wild.
If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison for each charge. He also faces a fine of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and a fine of up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
At the hearing, attended by numerous Hawaiian monk seal protection activists, Trader set a scheduling hearing for June 9, but said Lytvynchuk is allowed to participate by phone or video from Washington. Trader ordered him not to travel outside Washington and Hawaii. Lytvynchuk said he surrendered his U.S. passport to authorities.
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