HONOLULU (AP) — A tourist from Washington state is facing federal charges after a witness recorded what prosecutors say was a video of him hurling a coconut-sized rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal just off a Maui beach last week.
Special agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration arrested Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, in the Seattle area Wednesday, the U.S. attorney’s office in Honolulu said. Lytvynchuk, who lives in Covington, Washington, was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Thursday on charges of harassing and attempting to harass a protected animal.
The video drew widespread condemnation and demands for prosecution in Hawaii, including from Maui's mayor.
The court docket didn’t list an attorney for him, and a person who answered the phone at a number associated with Lytvynchuk declined to comment.
A state Department of Land and Natural Resources officer last week investigated a report of Hawaiian monk seal harassment in Lahaina, the community that was largely destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023. A witness showed the officer video of the seal swimming in shallow water while a man watched from shore.
“In the cellphone video, the man can be seen holding a large rock with one hand, aiming, and throwing it directly at the monk seal," prosecutors said a criminal complaint. The rock, described by a witness as the size of a coconut, narrowly missed the seal's head, but caused the “animal to abruptly alter its behavior,” the complaint said.
When a witness confronted the man, he said "he did not care and was ‘rich’ enough to pay any fines," according to the complaint.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said the charges send a clear message that cruelty toward protected wildlife won't be tolerated. He identified the seal as “Lani,” a known and beloved character along Lahaina's waterfront, whose return after the wildfires brought a sense of healing and hope during a difficult time.
But the state natural resources department said in an email it likely was not Lani, as it lacked certain markings.
“Humanity and the instinct to protect what is vulnerable are still values people can unite around," Bissen said in an emailed statement.
The mayor said he called the U.S. attorney in Honolulu to advocate for prosecution.
Lytvynchuk is charged with violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Hawaiian monk seals are a critically endangered species. Only 1,600 remain in the wild.
If convicted, Lytvynchuk, faces up to one year in prison for each charge. He also faces a fine of up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and a fine of up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
This undated drivers license photo provided by the U.S. District Court of Hawaii shows Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, from Washington state, who is accused of throwing a coconut-sized rock at the seal named "Lani." (U.S. District Court of Hawaii via AP)
This undated drivers license photo provided by the U.S. District Court of Hawaii shows Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, from Washington state, who is accused of throwing a coconut-sized rock at the seal named "Lani." (U.S. District Court of Hawaii via AP)
FILE - Cars pass in front of the federal building housing the U.S. District Court in Honolulu on March 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, File)
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI began closing arguments Thursday in the landmark trial whose outcome could shape the future of artificial intelligence.
Musk, the world's richest man, was a co-founder of OpenAI, which started as a nonprofit in 2015 and went on to create ChatGPT. After Musk invested $38 million in its first years, his lawsuit filed in 2024 accused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his top deputy of shifting into a moneymaking mode behind his back.
The trial’s outcome could sway the balance of power in AI — breakthrough technology that is increasingly feared as a threat to humanity’s survival. Scrutiny of Altman’s leadership comes at a crucial time for the company and its competitors, Musk’s own AI firm and Anthropic, formed by a group of seven ex-OpenAI leaders.
All three firms are moving toward planned initial public offerings that are expected to be among the largest ever. In addition to damages, Musk is seeking Altman’s ouster from OpenAI’s board. If Musk wins, it could derail OpenAI’s IPO plans.
One of the jury’s tasks is to decide if Musk filed his lawsuit in time. Much of the testimony has centered on OpenAI’s early years after its 2015 founding, but there’s a relatively short timeline to allege the claims Musk is making of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.
OpenAI has argued that Musk waited too long and cannot claim harms that occurred before August 2021.
The judge wrote in a court filing last month that “if the jury finds that Musk failed to file his action within the statute of limitations, it is highly likely” that she will “accept that finding and direct verdict to the defendants.”
If the jury decides that the lawsuit was filed in time, they then have to decide if OpenAI had a “charitable trust” and that OpenAI and its executives broke that trust. Musk's other claim means jurors must determine whether Altman, Greg Brockman — co-founder and president — and OpenAI unjustly enriched themselves at Musk's expense.
For Microsoft, a co-defendant in the trial, the jury has to decide whether the company aided and abetted that breach.
Musk's attorney, Steven Molo, told jurors Thursday morning that the Tesla CEO is “sorry he could not be here.”
Musk is in China with President Donald Trump and other prominent tech executives.
Molo began making his case doubling down on claims of Altman's untrustworthiness, pointing to testimony from five witnesses who called the OpenAI CEO a “liar.”
"I confronted Sam Altman with the fact that five witnesses in this trial, all people that he’s known for years and worked with, called him a liar under oath. Liar’s a very powerful word in a courtroom.”
Those five people were Musk and another co-founder Ilya Sutskever, who was OpenAI’s chief scientist, as well as OpenAI’s former chief technology officer Mira Murati and two ex-board members, Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley.
“Sam Altman’s credibility is directly at issue in this case. He’s the defendants' main witness. The defendants absolutely need you to believe Sam Altman. If you cannot trust him, if you don’t believe him, they cannot win. It’s that simple,” he said.
Because Musk, Altman and Brockman never signed an actual contract that could show they had a charitable trust that OpenAI then broke, Musk's side has made the case that jurors should consider emails and other communication between them — along with everything from OpenAI's website to press interviews — that constituted such a trust.
“The evidence proves Elon donated those funds for a specific charitable purpose,” he said, adding that this purpose was to create a nonprofit for the development of safe AI that would be open-source when applicable.
O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
William Savitt, attorney representing OpenAI, left, speaks during a press conference outside the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Sam Altman, center, and OpenAI president Greg Brockman, right, arrive at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
