Melinda Liu
Native Hawaiians that advocates sovereignty locked the gates of a historic palace Wednesday in downtown Honolulu.
Protest leader Mahealani Kahau said the group doesn't recognize Hawaii as a U.S. state. Supporters planned to keep the protest peaceful and if evicted would return later, she said.
The group is one of several Hawaiian sovereignty organizations in the islands seeking to regain independence, which was formally annexed as the 50th U.S. state in 1959.