State Rep. Literally Hammering Away at Hawaii's Homeless Problem – But Some Wish He'd Stop

Hawaii State Rep. Tom Brower (D) is fed up with his district's homeless problem and has decided to take matters into his own hands — using a sledgehammer.

The Democratic representative from Hawaii's has devoted his free time to searching the streets of Hawaii for stray shopping carts. Some shopping he returns back to the original retailer. But most, he disables by smashing them with a sledgehammer.

Hawaii State Rep. Tom Brower is disabling shopping carts with a sledgehammer during his free time. (Image source: Screen grab via KGBM-TV)

"I got tired of telling people I'm trying to pass laws," Brower told KGBM-TV. "I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets."

"I find abandoned junk, specifically shopping carts, and I remove them," he added. "I also create a situation where those carts can't be pushed around the city. I think it's a good thing.”

Others disagree.

"His message to the public is that it's OK to commit acts of violence against homeless people, against vulnerable people. It's OK for vigilante justice," Marya Grambs, the executive director of Mental Health America, told KGBM-TV.

That sentiment was echoed by Connie Mitchell of the Institute for Human Services, who said that "there are some people who are not that stable and maybe drug-affected that could really react to him."

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