A tumultuous altercation on a Maui beach has thrust a Democratic congressional candidate into legal hot water. The candidate faces felony charges across three distinct cases, one involving claims that he menaced a county worker with what seemed like a firearm, and another accusing him of assaulting a nurse at a hospital.
Kirill Basin, aged 40, incurred two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening following an incident on August 1 at Keawakapu Beach, located in South Kihei.
The situation spiraled when a video documented a dispute over music, escalating as Basin shoved Kama Homan and attempted to strike him with a beach chair. In response, Homan deflected the attack, knocking Basin unconscious in the process.
A criminal complaint details that Basin subsequently threatened Homan with a knife. During a court session on Tuesday, a judge upheld Basin’s bail at $1 million, prohibited him from contacting Homan or four others, and banned his presence at Keawakapu Beach, including its parking area.
The video captures the intense moment when Kirill Basin confronts another individual amid a heated beach confrontation at Maui’s Keawakapu Beach. (Credit: Maile Stiller-Elliott via Storyful)
But the beach confrontation was not Basin’s first trip through the criminal justice system this year.
Four days later, prosecutors used the beach arrest to seek revocation of Basin’s bail in a separate case accusing him of assaulting a Maui Memorial Medical Center nurse.
Prosecutors said Basin threatened beachgoers, telling them, “I’ll put you in the ground” and “I’ll kill you.”
He then allegedly reached into a small black bag and said, “Do I have a gun? I’ll kill you,” before producing and brandishing a knife as a beachgoer tried to de-escalate the confrontation, the Aug. 5 court filing says.
In the new beach case, Judge Christopher Dunn found probable cause to support a first-degree terroristic-threatening charge, the filing says. In the separate hospital-assault case, a judge issued a $400,000 bench warrant.
That filing connected the beach confrontation to a criminal case that had been pending since June, extending a court record that began months before Basin was knocked unconscious on the sand.
Hawaii Democratic congressional candidate Kirill Basin is seen during a confrontation with beachgoers at Keawakapu Beach on Maui before his arrest on felony terroristic threatening charges. (Credit: Maile Stiller-Elliott via Storyful)
Basin’s first court case this year began May 2, when police arrested him on a disorderly-conduct charge. Prosecutors say he fought or threatened people, made too much noise or used offensive language, even after he was told to stop.
Later that month, a Maui grand jury indicted Basin on two counts of first-degree terroristic threatening over a May 29 encounter with a County of Maui employee.
Kirill Basin is seen near beach chairs during the confrontation at Keawakapu Beach that ended with his arrest on felony terroristic threatening charges. (Credit: Maile Stiller-Elliott via Storyful)
Prosecutors alleged in a July court filing that Basin pulled a tan-and-green handgun from a backpack and made threats involving the weapon while two other county employees watched.
“On May 29, 2026, [Basin] approached a County of Maui employee … pulled out a tan and green colored handgun from his backpack, and made verbal threats about using the handgun,” prosecutors wrote.
“Further, two other County of Maui employees were also present and both felt threatened for their lives due to [Basin’s] actions,” the filing said.
Basin’s lawyers sharply disputed that version. In a later filing, they said police reports and surveillance footage showed Basin briefly displayed a muzzle-down pellet gun, did not point it at anyone and told witnesses to call police.
Within two weeks, Basin was facing a second felony case, this one over an alleged encounter at Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Basin was charged with second-degree assault and two counts of harassment after the hospital incident.
Prosecutors wrote that Basin had been admitted to Maui Memorial’s behavioral-health unit for evaluation, became aggressive and attempted to leave the emergency room before discharge. When nurses tried to restrain him, prosecutors alleged, Basin kicked one of them in the thigh.
Basin pleaded not guilty. On July 20, the court granted his request to leave Hawaii for inpatient treatment in Arizona, subject to conditions that included surrendering his passport, following a court-approved itinerary and appearing remotely for hearings.
By July 27, the court was told Basin was in the Maui Recovery program in Lahaina. But after the Aug. 1 beach arrest, the court issued a $400,000 bench warrant in the hospital-assault case as prosecutors sought to revoke his bail.
News Media has requested Maui Police Department reports, body-camera footage, dispatch audio, witness statements and evidence logs tied to the four criminal incidents. News Media also reached out to Basin’s attorney, Brandon Segal, for comment.