It has been about a month since catastrophic “wildfires” swept through West Maui and consumed the formerly idyllic island village of Lahaina, leaving thousands without a house, food, and other necessities. Hawaii victims are ‘Literally being arrested for visiting their own homes’ and according to locals, all governments are doing nothing to help.

Hawaii Victims are ‘Getting Desperate’

Joe Kovacs of WND has reported that “One journalist who is on the ground in Maui, also says that local residents are being “royally screwed” by the very people who are supposed to be helping them. What is worse, some victims are actually being arrested by police simply for trying to visit their own homes.

We are told that at least 115 people were killed in the August 8 inferno. Hundreds of others, including a disturbing number of children, are also missing, which is only fueling speculation that child traffickers may have capitalized on the tragedy to nab a few more kids for their clients.

Thankfully, more than 3,000 people who were previously unaccounted for have been reported safe. As of this writing, there are 385 names on a list of still-missing people, their whereabouts currently unknown.

“We’re releasing this list … because we know it will help the investigation,” said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier in a video message he shared with the public. “We’re also balancing that because we know when this list comes out, it can and will cause pain for some folks.”

“This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”

Steven Merrill, an FBI special agent who was appointed to oversee Honolulu, also commented that he and his colleagues are “very thankful for the people who have reached out by phone or email.”

“As we get someone off of a list, this has enabled us to devote more resources to those who are still on the list.”

Why won’t the government disclose the number of missing, dead CHILDREN?

Journalist Nick Sortor, however, is painting a much different and more profoundly dire picture of what is really happening in West Maui – or rather, what is not happening in terms of the government providing appropriate aid to survivors.

“Good morning again from Maui, where residents are being ROYALLY screwed by local, state and federal governments,” Sortor tweeted. “There are COUNTLESS important issues to note, but here are just a handful.”

Sortor then listed the following seven issues that Maui survivors face:

• Police and military checkpoints are popping up “at literally every corner” in and around Lahaina, almost like it is being taken over by force through martial law.
• Many local residents are becoming impoverished because everything remains shut down – closed for business.
• Because of government actions, tens of thousands of people in Maui are now out of work, “and countless people are about to be forced into bankruptcy.”
• It is next to impossible to access any kind of federal aid, even though it is readily available.
• For some unknown reason, the government still will not address the number of children, minors, who are either missing or dead.
• The government keeps changing the “official” number of missing people in general, which suggests they are lying.
• Law enforcement is aggressively deterring residents from attempting to visit their own homes by arresting offenders.

“MARK MY WORDS: We WILL get to the bottom of all this,” Sortor promised. “I’m putting together a team of local residents & journalists to make it happen. WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT HIDING? WHY DO THEY KEEP LYING TO THE GREAT PEOPLE OF MAUI?”

Good morning again from Maui, where residents are being ROYALLY screwed by local, state, and federal governments.

There are COUNTLESS important issues to note, but here are just a handful:

1. The town of Lahaina is being INCREASINGLY fortified, and there are police & military… pic.twitter.com/7WpS9jY7H7

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 3, 2023

“I came back to Maui, because the situation is getting WORSE. Corruption is potentially running rampant – including within the NGOs (potentially even within the government-funded Red Cross).”

He indicates residents are “getting TOTALLY fed up. Many are getting desperate, because they’re facing eviction due to losing their jobs (due to government shutdowns) and they’re receiving ZERO support.

“Several are now willing to speak on record for the first time. I’m working on that, but unfortunately I’m just one man. Might take me a day or two to post.

“This is my priority though—to get their message out.”

When a commenter suggested a giant GoFundMe account for the victims, Sortor noted he’s actually trying to get something like that active soon.

Advertisement – story continues below

“Stay tuned! Without direct support from the people, these amazing people would end up homeless,” he said. “The government is USELESS. I’m working with the community to launch a fundraising campaign within the next 48 hours.”

As WND reported Aug. 28, miles of black curtains dubbed by some as “The Biden Curtain” were erected to prevent people from seeing what’s happening at the origin site of the wildfires.

Black fencing erected in Lahaina, Maui, in August 2023 to block the public’s view of ground zero of the Hawaiian fires (Video screenshot)

Geoff Cygnus, a citizen journalist, posted the video, with a caption reading: “Miles and miles of black fencing being put up in Lahaina. Ground Zero is now behind the Biden curtain.”

Miles and miles of black fencing being put up in Lahaina.

Ground Zero is now behind the Biden curtain. pic.twitter.com/krmxr4XcCr

— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 28, 2023

“There seems to be a huge emphasis on ensuring that the media and anyone else can’t see what’s going on,” Cygnus reported.

“There are miles and miles of this black fence going up that was not here before that is obscuring ground zero and making sure no one can see what’s going on inside of there from the road, no one can get in there, no one can take any pictures.”

“I was almost immediately, after these 20 seconds, National Guard came and chased me off, yelled at me, told me to get back in my car and keep moving. So you cannot pull over. You can’t even stop you car anywhere near any of this anymore.”

In addition to the National Guard, Cygnus says there are “regular police, and what I have dubbed ‘special police,’ which are these police cars that are foreign made. The people that are driving them are not – they don’t look like any police I’ve ever seen in the United States. So kind of a bizarre situation, but they have a huge presence standing guard ensuring that nothing can be documented.”

Source Joe Kovacs WND