MAUNA KEA, HAWAII >> Protesters forced the closure of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway on Hawaii island for more than three hours Wednesday and 33 kupuna, or Hawaiian elders, were arrested in a sit-in intended to block construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.

The day began with a calm series of almost ritualistic arrests of protesters who sat in rows under a tent in the middle of the Mauna Kea Access Road to prevent construction equipment from reaching the mountain.

But tension on the mountain abruptly escalated late in the morning when about 50 law enforcement officers with riot control masks and batons entered an area of the road where hundreds of protesters were gathered.

That prompted dozens of activists to form into ranks on the road to block any attempt by police, sheriffs or state enforcement officers to reach the Hawaiian elders, while hundreds of other protesters lined both sides of the access road, essentially surrounding the rows of police standing on the road.

>> Photo Gallery: Police begin arresting Thirty Meter Telescope opponents

The crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators on or along the access road then sang and chanted passionately, ignoring repeated calls from an officer with a bullhorn who warned them to stay off the road.

Protesters also abandoned an SUV and several other cars on the normally busy cross-island highway, prompting the state Department of Transportation to close the highway at about 11:15 a.m. Ed Sniffen, deputy director of the state Department of Transportation for Highways, said protesters who flowed out onto the highway were also a factor in the decision to close the highway.

One of the cars that blocked the highway belonged to Kohala resident Mariah Barnett, 24, who sat in her vehicle and refused police instructions to move it.

Barnett, a massage therapist and a caregiver, said she did it out of love for the mountain.

“I’m really happy to be here,” she said, speaking through her half-open car window as police looked on. “Ride or die, TMT is not gonna happen,” she said.

Police warned they would tow her car with her in it, but Barnett said she did not believe they could legally do so. Sniffen said officers later convinced her to move the car on her own, but onlookers said she had blocked the west-bound lane of the highway for close to an hour.

Activist organizer Andre Perez said the standoff between the protesters and police and the closure of Daniel K. Inouye Highway were both resolved in a deal that called for the police to withdraw from the access road if the protesters ensured the highway was cleared.

The TMT opponents identified the owners of the cars, and convinced them to move the vehicles if the police withdrew. The protesters erupted in cheering and chanting at about 2:15 p.m. as the last rows of enforcement officers with riot gear departed from their positions between the activists and the highway, and the highway reopened at about 2:45.

“They called it a day. They went home. We still got the road. We still control the road. No equipment has gone up yet, so we still here, and tomorrow is another day, and we’re not leaving,” Perez said.

“I want to say to everybody out there, keep up the pressure,” he said. “Whatever you did today, do it again. Keep up the pressure. TMT will have to fold. The state will tell TMT to leave eventually.”

The 33 kupuna who were arrested included Office of Hawaiian Affairs Maui Trustee Carmen Hulu Lindsey, and the OHA issued a statement condemning the arrests.

“The Native Hawaiian community weeps today,” the OHA statement said. “To see some of our most respected kupuna, advocates and ohana get arrested for voicing the same concerns our community has expressed for decades over the state’s mismanagement of Maunakea brings a kaumaha (grief) to our hearts that is unbearable. Regardless of your position on TMT, we must all agree with Gov. Ige’s 2015 statement that the state has ‘failed’ Maunakea.”

“OHA will continue to proceed with our lawsuit against the state and UH for their mismanagement of Maunakea,” OHA said. “We continue to call for the state and UH (University of Hawaii) to be held accountable as fiduciaries for our trust resources, and we demand that a new management structure is immediately installed for Mauna Kea.”

State law enforcement officers only arrested or cited the people who the protest leaders identified as kupuna who were willing to be arrested, said state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman Dan Dennison.

“It was pretty emotional, quite frankly, because some of the people who were arrested were actually related to some of the officers,” he said. “It was a tough situation for everyone.”

Officers held protesters arms and walked them to waiting vans, and carried others between them or on a stretcher. One woman was pushed to the van in a wheelchair. Activists circulated fruit and croissants to the elders while they waited to be arrested.

Dennison praised the respect and professionalism of state enforcement officers who made the arrests, and also said the protesters “were absolutely respectful.”

All 33 people who were arrested during the protest were cited and released, and some apparently returned to the protest site.

Dennison said the protesters will face misdemeanor charges of obstruction of a government operations, which carries maximum penalties of up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. They are scheduled to appear in Hilo District Court on Sept. 20.

Some believe the Hawaiian elders should not have to face charges.

“I would implore on the powers to be that perhaps after they’re removed that they not be prosecuted,” said protest organizer Kaleikoa Kaeo. “They should not be prosecuted as criminals at all. They should be looked at as heroes. They show the people of Hawaii and the world how we should behave in this instance.”

Four people were taken from the protest site on Mauna Kea Access Road in ambulances for what Dennison said appeared to be minor medical problems.

When asked how long the state is prepared to continue the process of arresting nonviolent protesters, Dennison replied that “I don’t think we’re going to call it off.”

“As Governor Ige said, we are committed to upholding the law of the state of Hawaii and making this situation safe and secure, and also respect the stewardship of the mountain.”