A cult associated with nudism, polygamy and abstinence from personal hygiene arrested for violating Hawaii’s quarantine order had been previously deported from three countries after it was deemed a threat to national security, according to the Costa Rica Star.
Twenty-one alleged Carbon Nation cult members including supposed leader Eligio “Natureboy” Bishop were arrested for the state’s quarantine order on June 12, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported. Hawaii requires everyone arriving to the state to quarantine for two weeks in hopes of containing the spread of coronavirus.
“People were still out, going around. So, honest mistake because we were all under the impression that it was just like everywhere else in the states where it’s not that serious,” Bishop said, though authorities said the group signed documents detailing the state’s quarantine order at the airport, the Associated Press reported.
The group Carbon Nation identifies its purpose to “awaken the chosen” to “become their highest cellves [selves],” according to the group’s YouTube channel.
Before receiving death threats, the group planned to permanently relocate to Hawaii, Carbon Nation member Kendra Carter said, according to AP. The group adheres to a strict vegan diet and one of their theories is “that all people are different shades of brown,” Carter added.
The members were released from Honolulu Police custody and returned to the contiguous United States, Hawaii Police Officer Sean Phelan told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Their bail was set at $2,000 for members charged on one count and $4,000 for members facing two charges, Hawaii Police Department Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins told the Star Advertiser. Violating quarantine orders is considered a misdemeanor and may result in a $5,000 fine or one year in prison, according to the Star Advertiser.
“This is the biggest group of quarantine violators that we’ve apprehended. A lot of local people were outraged by what they saw,” Wilkins said. The members are scheduled to appear in court June 24 and 25, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser.
BREAKING: Alleged “Carbon Nation” cult leader Eligio Lee Bishop, two other suspected members will leave Hawaii tonight on a flight to Los Angeles. The group came to live on the Big Island but all were arrested, jailed for breaking mandatory quarantine. https://t.co/e5oOgcJapL pic.twitter.com/OT0Pb8hc9C
— Lynn Kawano (@LynnKawano) June 16, 2020
Bishop claims the group consists of “African Americans that are protesting our conditions by leaving them,” AP reported. “They just make us look crazy on the internet.”
“It’s aloha oe to the Carbon Nation,” President and CEO of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii Jessica Lani Rich sent the group off with a common Hawaiian goodbye. The Visitor Aloha Society was responsible for scheduling the member’s returning flight to Los Angeles after their arrest. (RELATED: Aloha To Freedom: Hawaii Lawmakers Push Severe Ammo Restrictions)
Rich referred to reports that Carbon Nation was deported by Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported. “They are a religious cult known for polygamy and nudism,” Rich added.
When apprehended by Immigration and Panamanian National Police, Bishop had an international warrant for “crimes of sexual abuse and pedophilia,” the Costa Rica Star reported.
Formerly, Bishop worked as a sex worker, stripper, exotic dancer and model.
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