HONOLULU (AP) — People following a movement that promotes violence and a second U.S. civil war have been showing up at protests across the nation armed and wearing tactical gear. But the anti-government “boogaloo” movement has adopted an unlikely public and online symbol: Hawaiian print shirts. The brightly colored, often floral pattern of the so-called Hawaiian shirt, known in Hawaii as an aloha shirt, is synonymous with a laid back lifestyle. In Hawaii, it has an association with spirit of aloha, the Native Hawaiian sentiment of love, compassion and mercy. But now, the militant followers of the boogaloo philosophy are wearing the shirts at demonstrations about coronavirus lockdowns, racial injustice and the presidential election.
Aloha shirts on ‘boogaloos’ link symbol of peace to violence
