State releases names of activists arrested during telescope protests at Mauna Kea

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - State officials have released the names of the 38 people who were arrested last week for blocking Mauna Kea Access Road during protests against construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.

Last Wednesday, two days after the project’s construction had originally been slated to begin, state law enforcement officials began taking peaceful demonstrators ― many of them kupuna, or Hawaiian elders ― into custody.

Originally, the state said 34 people had been arrested during the peaceful protests. But on Tuesday, authorities increased the number of people who had been arrested to 38:

• Albertini, James
• Awai, Sharol
• Belsky, Tomas
• Brown, Marie Alohalani
• Burke, Gene
• Chun, Daycia-Dee
• Deleon, Richard L.
• Desha, Alika
• Freitas, William K.
• Green, Patricia
• Haumea, Desmond
• Hookano, Flora
• Ioane, Kelii
• Kahauelio, Maxine
• Kahoopii, Ana
• Kalima, Mahea
• Kanaele, Kaliko Lehua
• Kanahele, Pualani
• Lee, Deborah
• Leong, Donna
• Li, Daniel
• Lindsey, Carmen
• Lindsey-Kaapuni, Linda Leilani
• Lui, Abel
• Martin, Liko-O-Kalani
• Naniole, James
• Neff, Luana
• Oana-Hurwitz, Deena
• Peleiholani, Edleen
• Price, Renee
• Reese, Haloley
• Ritte, Loretta
• Ritte, Walter
• Robinson, Raynette
• Trask, Damian
• Trask, Mililani
• Turalde, John
• Wong-Wilson, Noe Noe

The arrests were decried by agencies like the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which said the conflict underscored broader issues with the state’s management of the mountain.

“The Native Hawaiian community weeps today,” the agency said, in a statement.

State officials continue to say they are making preparations for construction of the telescope, though the current state of those preparations is not well known.

Earlier Tuesday, Gov. David Ige yielded control of the situation at Mauna Kea to Big Island Mayor Harry Kim, saying that Kim would be “taking the lead” in Mauna Kea talks.

Copyright 2019 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.