While Hawaii island’s Thirty Meter Telescope standoff simmered with no arrests Thursday, the protest radiated off island with rallies, legal action and a freeway traffic tie-up for the second day in a row.
At about 3 p.m. a caravan of vehicles driven by TMT protesters made westbound traffic on the H-1 freeway near Ward Avenue slow to a crawl for several minutes until police cars entered the freeway in front of the creeping procession that included a couple of mopeds, and chased them away.
Like a similar coordinated slowdown Wednesday on H-1 near Manoa, the freeway was slow to recover and remained congested for much of the afternoon.
The Honolulu Police Department said it made multiple citations for traffic violations in roadway-blocking actions across the islands and made at least one arrest.
“The vehicle drivers and moped riders involved in this afternoon’s incident on the H-1 Freeway posed a hazard to themselves and everyone around them. Their actions were foolish and dangerous,” police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said in a statement.
In Oahu Circuit Court, Big Island kumu hula Paul Neves filed a complaint aimed at toppling Gov. David Ige’s emergency proclamation giving the state expanded authority to shut down access to Mauna Kea.
State officials announced Thursday that Mauna Kea was closed to the public — vehicular and foot traffic — for safety and logistical reasons for the construction project.
Filed by an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., the suit claims the proclamation violates the state Constitution and infringes on rights of free speech, religious worship and movement.
Neves, one of the petitioners who opposed the TMT in the latest contested case hearing, regularly visits the mountain to conduct traditional and customary practices, according to the suit.
“Ige’s weaponization of an emergency proclamation in the absence of a natural disaster or bona fide emergency abuses and exceeds his statutory authority,” the filing says.
The complaint asks the court to declare the proclamation invalid.
Elsewhere, anti-TMT sign-waving demonstrations and rallies were held across Oahu, including a large gathering Thursday afternoon at the state Capitol. Small demonstrations were also held in Portland, Ore.; Las Vegas; and other mainland cities, according to social media.
At the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Native Hawaiian “protectors” of Mauna Kea condemned the $1.4 billion cutting-edge astronomy project and urged the UH board of trustees and President David Lassner to discontinue their support.
Meanwhile two different petitions opposing the TMT continued to gain momentum at Change.org with more than 70,000 signatures and growing.
Despite the full-court press by TMT foes, there are many Native Hawaiians who support the project, according to a 2018 statewide poll conducted by a Washington, D.C., pollster hired by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
While a similar poll three years ago found that 59% of Hawaiians opposed the TMT’s construction, there was a surprising flip in opinion in the latest statewide poll with 72% expressing support for the telescope.
Overall, 80% of Oahu residents supported the project, the Hawaii Poll found in 2018.