STATEMENT FROM DLNR REGARDING UNDERSTANDING WITH MAUNA KEA PROTESTORS
DLNR News Release Sep 17, 2015
The Dept. of Land and Natural Resources reached an understanding with protesters on Mauna Kea to remove a large tent across from the Mauna Kea Visitors Center.
Yesterday officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE) posted the tent as an illegal structure. Today in discussions with DLNR leadership, a protest leader agreed to remove the tent and to “lighten their presence” on the mountain.
DOCARE officers will continue to monitor for the removal of illegal structures on the mountain.
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DLNR/DOCARE OFFICERS CONFISCATE PROTEST TENT
Third Law Enforcement Operation Under 120-day Emergency Rule
News Release from DLNR September 21, 2015
(HILO) - 19 officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), with support from four Hawaii Police Department officers and a ranger with the Office of Mauna Kea Management, conducted a third law enforcement operation in the restricted area covered by the 120 day emergency rule, passed in June by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
DOCARE officers disassembled, loaded and took as evidence, a large tent that protesters had erected at the 9000 foot elevation level, across the road from the Mauna Kea Visitors Center. In an understanding reached last week, protesters had agreed to vacate the tent. A written warning notice was posted to it last Wednesday. Officers confiscated it after its rightful owner failed to claim it and take it down. A hale adjacent to the tent was not removed.
Unlike two previous law enforcement operations, no one was arrested during this third sweep. Officers did not spot anyone camping in the restricted area.
Law enforcement operations on Mauna Kea can happen at any time. The emergency rule prohibits camping in the restricted area between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m.
Photographs: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2bxsfdokgbla2tl/AAD3PmZJ5lBeb8LQs0ZjtnA7a?dl=0
Video: https://vimeo.com/139934128
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SA: Protesters end 24-hour Mauna Kea vigil
Lanakila Mangauil, one of the leaders, said the group will continue its protest during the day, but instead of camping at the 9,200-foot level near the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station at night, it will trust the state to notify protesters when the TMT plans to resume construction....
Mangauil said officers for now agreed to leave Hale Kukiaʻimauna, the traditional Hawaiian structure standing next to the tent. State officials previously said it is illegal, too.
But Mangauil said members of the anti-TMT movement would become upset if the structure was removed. He said the hale, site of ceremonies and images of Hawaiian gods, has become a symbol of the so-called aloha aina movement.
“It would spark a massive, massive revolt,” he said of any attempt to remove it.
DLNR spokesman Dan Dennison said he couldn’t say whether or when the Hawaiian structure would be removed, reiterating that the department doesn’t discuss enforcement strategy.
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Kuuipo Frietas, Sept 17, 2015: "Lā 176: Aloha kakahiaka kākou. I know there have been a lot of things happening this week causing emotions to flare but I just wanted to remind everyone to remain in kapualoha no matter what. DLNR served a notice of removal for the tent yesterday 9/16/15. If we do not take it down by 6pm today then the State will do it themselves. Just the tent for now. Under DLNR, you must have a permit to put up any structure. Regardless of our own personal opinions on that rule especially in relation to Hale Kūkiaʻimauna and our ahu, we went 6 months in this movement. This is a message of aloha to calm emotions. There is no need for numbers. Will keep you updated."
AP: Hawaii telescope protestors to take down tent
HTH: TMT protesters agree to remove tent
BIVN: DLNR And TMT Opponents Compromise: Tent Will Come Down
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DLNR to protesters: Remove the camp
HTH: A group of Native Hawaiians protesting the building of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea will have until this evening to remove their campsite, according to a notice from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.
A copy of the DLNR notice posted on an anti-TMT Facebook page and signed by Chair Suzanne Case says the hale and tent at the campsite near the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station will be considered abandoned at 6 p.m. Structures and material will be removed at the owner’s expense.
The notice, dated Tuesday, says the structures are in violation of state laws “prohibiting any construction or improvement in the forest reserve and camping activity that involves the possession of a tent, tarpaulin, or other obvious camping paraphernalia” in a restricted area.
DLNR conservation officers have made arrests at the unauthorized camp site twice but have left the camp itself in place.
The camp has been in place for 176 days and is used by TMT protesters to practice cultural traditions and keep a 24-hour watch on the mountain.
read ... Remove
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'Bi-Polar' Anti-Telescope Protester Arrested for Breaking into Car on Mountain
WHT: ...According to a police log, Cynthia Ann Lahilahi Verschuur, aka Cynthia Marlin, (the 2014 Libertarian candidate for LG) was arrested at 4:50 p.m. Tuesday at Hilo Medical Center and charged with disorderly conduct, a petty misdemeanor, and unauthorized entry to a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor.
She was released from police custody two hours later after posting $750 and has an Oct. 15 court date.
A police spokeswoman said Wednesday morning the incidents Verschuur was arrested for took place on Mauna Kea at about 1:30 a.m. Friday.
The spokeswoman said in an email Verschuur’s “actions at one astronomy facility caused alarm to an employee.”
She said Verschuur “then allegedly entered a government vehicle at another astronomy facility.”
The spokeswoman said she has no information why Verschuur, who told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald last month she has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was arrested four days later at the hospital. Verschuur said she is a student of Hawaiian language and culture and identifies with those protesting the planned building of the Thirty Meter Telescope atop Mauna Kea, a mountain the protesters consider sacred.
Verschuur is also accused of criminal property damage for allegedly ramming into a state truck at the checkpoint near the Visitor Information Station just after midnight July 12 and of disorderly conduct and open lewdness for allegedly taking her clothes off and creating a disturbance near the same spot the night of July 13....
read ... A Typical Punatic