{"id":138804,"date":"2019-07-29T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=138804"},"modified":"2019-08-12T10:01:41","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T09:01:41","slug":"activists-camped-at-hawaiis-mauna-kea-face-government-opposition-as-they-attempt-to-block-telescope-construction-on-sacred-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/07\/activists-camped-at-hawaiis-mauna-kea-face-government-opposition-as-they-attempt-to-block-telescope-construction-on-sacred-land\/","title":{"rendered":"Activists Camped at Hawaii\u2019s Mauna Kea Face Government Opposition as They Attempt to Block Telescope Construction on Sacred Land"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kumu hula Bradford Ikemanu Lum, left, greets kupuna Noe Noe Wong-Wilson on July 22, 2019, on the seventh day of protests against the TMT telescope at the base of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Photo: Jamm Aquino\/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP<\/p><\/div>\n

24 Jul 2019 – <\/em>On July 17, police in riot gear arrested at least 33 Native Hawaiian elders, or kupuna, for peacefully blocking construction of a massive telescope on sacred land on the dormant volcano of Mauna Kea. The arrests came after the kupuna \u2014 some of whom use canes or wheelchairs \u2014 were blocking the road to the summit. Shortly after the arrests, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an emergency order<\/a> to give law enforcement more authority to remove activists on Mauna Kea, close roads, and ensure delivery of materials to the construction site.<\/p>\n

According to a state spokesperson<\/a>, the activists were released right away and charged with \u201cobstruction of government operations.\u201d Up to 2,000 Native Hawaiians and activists remain camped at the base of Mauna Kea, where they have been for over a week, to prevent the $1.4 billion construction project known as the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, from getting underway. More broadly, they are protesting a history of American colonialism that goes back more than a century and the increasingly militarized police force on the island. The emergency declaration has limited public access to the mountain, but as the protectors gain supporters from outside the state \u2014 including statements from presidential candidates and solidarity protests in several states \u2014 they say they\u2019re in it for the long haul.<\/p>\n

The Native Hawaiian community has been fighting the construction of the telescope in courts and on the ground for about a decade, since plans to build on Mauna Kea were first announced in 2009. On July 10, Ige announced construction would begin the week of July 15, following a four-year delay. The conflict has now reached a tipping point, and the indigenous resistance is drawing comparisons to the\u00a0Standing Rock Sioux reservation\u2019s fight against the\u00a0Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I keep hearing is, \u2018It\u2019s just a telescope, it\u2019s not a pipeline\u2019 \u2014 no,\u201d said former Hawaii State Rep. Kaniela Ing. \u201cThis is an 18-story massive structure that has a footprint of at least six football fields in a county that only allows 6-story buildings. And it\u2019s in a conservation district. So even if \u2014 sacredness aside \u2014 if you care about the environment at all, this is a really dangerous precedent and our Mauna has already seen oil spills from past telescopes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In support of the protests at Mauna Kea, thousands of Hawaii locals and Native Hawaiians march in Waikiki, on the island of Oahu, on July 21, 2019. Photos: Marie Eriel Hobro<\/p><\/div>\n

The Native Hawaiian<\/u> Legal Corporation, or NHLC, is suing the governor over the emergency proclamation. They say that Ige\u2019s intent was to enable the construction of the TMT, which has prevented Hawaiians from exercising protected speech rights, including the right to pray at sacred gathering sites.<\/p>\n

On July 10, the ACLU of Hawaii <\/a>issued a letter asking the state\u2019s Department of Land and Natural Resources, or DLNR, and Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement not to deploy a recently purchased military-oriented weapon, known as a sound cannon, against the TMT protesters.<\/p>\n

The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation says that Hawaiians are being prevented from exercising protected speech rights, including the right to pray at sacred gathering sites.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though it\u2019s sometimes portrayed as a \u201ccommunications\u201d device, the long-range acoustic device, or LRAD, is a weapon that has been used by law enforcement to force compliance at protests by causing immense pain and physical damage, including permanent hearing damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of whether DLNR actually uses LRAD at Mauna Kea, many people very likely will be too afraid to exercise their rights to assemble and protest at all, lest they suffer the same kinds of harms that past LRAD victims have suffered,\u201d the ACLU of Hawaii wrote. \u201cWorse, this chilling effect deters not only protesters, but also journalists, observers, and other bystanders, further showing the indiscriminate, overbroad influence of LRAD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ing, too, pointed out how the state\u2019s actions were limiting the right to protest. \u201cThe irony is these kapuna were arrested for not following these American laws by taking space in the road,\u201d\u00a0the former state representative said. \u201cThen the governor goes ahead and gives himself the authority to skirt basic free speech protections and use excessive force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the kupuna were charged with was obstructing government operations<\/a> but this isn\u2019t a government operation \u2014 this is a private project,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd it\u2019s like, is our government really that controlled by private interests that it doesn\u2019t even recognize the difference itself anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Wednesday, July 17th, a heavily armed police force arrested over 20 Native Hawaiian elders who were peacefully protecting Mauna Kea from desecration. #TMTShutdown<\/a> #AoleTMT<\/a> #KuKia\u02bbiMauna<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/igh2SFtjkm<\/a><\/p>\n

— Victims of Capitalism Memorial Foundation (@karaokecomputer) July 18, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n