A well-known Hawaii lifeguard who was killed in a shark attack while surfing off Oahu’s North Shore was a former professional surfer with acting credits to his name, including a role in one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Tamayo Perry, 49, was killed Sunday near Goat Island, Shayne Enright of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department said in a statement.
It's not known if Perry was the first professional surfer to be killed in a shark attack, since the definition of a professional in the sport can be blurry, said Brendan Buckley, the editor of Stab Magazine, a website devoted to surfing.
“But in terms of a high-level surfer that people around the world know and respected, he's the first that I'm aware of,” Buckley told The Associated Press Monday from his office in Portugal.
Perry and his wife, Emilia Perry, operated the Oahu Surfing Experience, offering surfing lessons. According to his biography on the business' website, he surfed professionally for over 15 years, highlighted by winning the Pipeline Master trials in 1999.
The Pipeline off Oahu's North Shore is famous for creating a tube that surfers ride for as long as they can. But it's also the most deadly wave in the world, killing some of the world's best surfers, Buckley said. Surfing it became Perry’s specialty, he said.
Surfers either focus on competitions or what they can do outside of those meets.
Perry “was never like somebody that was going to contend for a world title,” Buckley said. "He was more of the type to just kind of hunt down big, crazy waves and have that documented.”
“For a while, he was one of the top, top, top people out there," Buckley added. ”He got some of the craziest waves of his era. He was insanely respected by obviously everybody there and everybody around the world for what he did.”
Perry said on his website that he took to heart lessons learned from a near-fatal accident while surfing the Pipeline years ago.
“The lessons I’ve taken from that event have inspired me to my goal of instilling proper surf etiquette and safety into those whom I teach,” he wrote.
Emilia competed as a professional bodyboarder in western Australia before moving to Hawaii when she was 18. She and Tamayo met when she was bodyboarding out to a Pipeline wave.
“A few years later, I picked up a surfboard, we got married and there was no turning back,” she wrote. “The vast amounts of ocean knowledge that Tamayo has ingrained in me over the years is priceless.”
Tamayo Perry began his career as a lifeguard on the North Shore for the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety in July 2016, Enright said.
Perry's other passion was acting. He had several small roles credited to him on the film website www.imdb.com, including playing a buccaneer in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in 2011. That same year, he appeared in an episode of the television series “Hawaii Five-0.” He was also in a couple of national commercials.
"When I’m not acting, I’m still quite a character, so there’s always a ton of fun to be had," he said.
Photographer Brian Bielmann had known and worked with Perry for 25 years, shooting the surfer in both Hawaii and Tahiti. Perry and several friends wound up at a party about five months ago, when Bielmann said they had an incredible bonding experience.
“There’s about five of us there, and we’ve all called each other and just said, ‘We just are so thankful that we had that night with him,’” he said. “Everybody is just shaken to the core. I mean, it’s a gnarly thing to have happen no matter who it is, but to find out it was Tamayo, it’s crazy, man.”
Honolulu Ocean Safety and the city's fire, police and emergency medical services departments responded to Malaekahana Beach on Oahu's North Shore just before 1 p.m. Sunday after a caller reported seeing a man who appeared to have suffered shark bites, Enright said.
Lifeguards brought Perry to shore, where he was pronounced dead, Enright said.
Ocean Safety personnel posted shark warnings in the area following the attack, Enright said.
Honolulu Ocean Safety Acting Chief Kurt Lager said Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.”
“Tamayo's personality was infectious and as much as people loved him, he loved everyone else more," Lager said at a news conference.
“Tamayo was a legendary waterman and highly respected,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, calling Perry’s death “a tragic loss.”
The last fatal shark incident in Hawaii was Dec. 30 when a man surfing off Maui was attacked about 150 yards (137 meters) from shore.
Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
In this undated image released by the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, shows well-known Hawaii lifeguard Tamayo Perry who was killed in a shark attack, Sunday, June 23, 2024, off Ohau, Hawaii. (Honolulu Emergency Services Department via AP)
In this undated image released by Christa Funk, shows well-known Hawaii lifeguard Tamayo Perry and his wife Emilia posing for photograph with surf boards. Perry was killed in a shark attack, Sunday, June 23, 2024, off Ohau, Hawaii. (Christa Funk via AP)
In this undated image released by Christa Funk, shows well-known Hawaii lifeguard Tamayo Perry pipeline surfing. Perry was killed in a shark attack, Sunday, June 23, 2024, off Ohau, Hawaii. (Christa Funk via AP)
FILE - A surfer walks out of the ocean on Oahu's North Shore near Haleiwa, Hawaii, March 31, 2020. Authorities said a professional lifeguard died after he was attacked by a shark while surfing off the island of Oahu in Hawaii on Sunday afternoon, June 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)
SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court justice said Thursday that he believes the explosion outside the court in capital Brasilia was the consequence of frequent far-right attacks and hate speech targeting the country’s institutions.
“It grew under the guise of a criminal use of freedom of speech. To offend, threaten, coerce," Justice Alexandre de Moraes said at an event in Brasilia.
Federal Police are investigating the explosions on Wednesday as terrorism and a violent attack on the democratic rule of law, its director, Andrei Passos Rodrigues, said at a news conference later.
He said that the man had attempted to enter the Supreme Court and that it appeared that he acted alone, though the police official indicated he also was viewing the attack in the broader context of extremism.
“Even if the visible action is individual, behind that action there is never just one person. It's always a group, or ideas of a group, or extremism, radicalism, that lead to committing those crimes,” Passos Rodrigues said. “The action, in fact, was an individual action, but the investigation will tell if there are other connections, if there are other networks, what's behind it, what drove it.”
The police director also said the Supreme Court has received fresh threats via email, without specifying when.
Security camera footage provided by the Supreme Court shows the suspect approaching a statue outside the building. As a guard nears, the man throws an explosive and retreats a few steps, then throws a second device and an explosion follows. Finally, the suspect ignites a third device near to himself, causing his death.
Passos Rodrigues said that the man was a native of southern Santa Catarina state where he previously ran for city council, and had been in Brasilia several months. Police went to his Brasilia residence Thursday and used a robot to open a drawer that triggered “a very serious explosion,” he said.
Celina Leão, the lieutenant governor of Brazil’s federal district, said Wednesday night that the man first detonated explosives in a car in a Congress parking lot, which didn't cause injuries. Then he went to Three Powers Plaza, where the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace are located.
Local media identified the man as being a member of Brazil’s Liberal Party, the same as former President Jair Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro has railed against the Supreme Court in the past and specifically focused his ire on de Moraes.
Bolsonaro supporters consider de Moraes their chief enemy. He has led a five-year investigation into fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, which has led to the ban of some far-right allies and supporters from social media and even some imprisonments. He also presided over the nation’s top electoral court when it ruled Bolsonaro ineligible for office until 2030, finding that he had abused his power and cast unfounded doubts on the validity of the 2022 election result.
Bolsonaro condemned the attack on social media.
“It is high time for Brazil to once again cultivate an environment suitable for different ideas to confront each other peacefully, and for the strength of arguments to be worth more than the argument of force,” he wrote.
Some accuse de Moraes of overstepping in the name of protecting Brazilian democracy from political violence and disinformation. Others view his brash tactics as justified by extraordinary circumstances.
Months after Bolsonaro lost his 2022 election bid, his supporters stormed the main government buildings in Brasilia, seeking to oust his leftist successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from power. It was widely seen as an echo of the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol two years earlier.
The Supreme Court has since convicted hundreds of those involved in the uprising for crimes such as criminal association and attempted coup.
De Moraes said Thursday that the explosions outside the Supreme Court appeared to be the most serious attack on the institution since then.
“The country’s pacification is only possible with the accountability of all criminals. There is no possibility of pacification with amnesty for criminals,” de Moraes said.
Earlier this year, de Moraes ordered a nationwide ban of X after clashing with its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Musk had disparaged de Moraes, calling him an authoritarian and a censor, even though his rulings, including X’s suspension, were repeatedly upheld by his peers. The platform was reinstated in October.
Brazil will host the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week. Passos Rodrigues said that the bombing shouldn’t raise any concerns, given that authorities are already implementing the highest level security possible, including with support of the armed forces.
“I am going this afternoon, shortly, to Rio de Janeiro, where I will personally accompany all actions so we can have the absolute guarantee of security,” he added.
A body lies on a road outside the Supreme Court in Brasília, Brazil, following an explosion, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A body lies outside the Supreme Court in Brasília, Brazil, following an explosion, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Police inspect a vehicle outside the Supreme Court in Brasília, Brazil, following an explosion, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police director Andrei Passos speaks during a news conference regarding an explosion outside the Supreme Court, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police director Andrei Passos arrives to a news conference regarding an explosion outside the Supreme Court, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police officers inspect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police officers inspect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police officers inspect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Forensic officers collect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police officers inspect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Forensic officers collect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A body lies on the ground outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Federal police officers inspect a body outside the Supreme Court following an explosion the previous night, in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
