---
title: "Thirty Meter Telescope protests"
chunk: 3/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Meter_Telescope_protests"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:34:21.595573+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Roadway blockade and ground breaking interruption ===
On October 7, 2014 the groundbreaking for the telescope was being live streamed via webcam. The proceedings were interrupted when the official caravan encountered several dozen demonstrators picketing and chanting in the middle of the roadway. A planned ceremony at the base of the mountain was scheduled by the group, Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, in opposition of the telescope and in a press release dated that day, the organization Sacred Mauna Kea stated: "Native Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians will gather for a peaceful protest against the Astronomy industry and the State of Hawaii’s ground-breaking ceremony for a thirty-meter telescope (TMT) on the summit of Mauna Kea." Several members traveled up the mountain and were stopped by police, where they laid down in the road and blocked the caravan. The nonviolent protest did not stop or block any people but when the ceremony for the ground breaking began, protesters interrupted the blessing, stopping the proceedings as well as the groundbreaking. That same day in California, protesters demonstrated outside the headquarters of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation in Palo Alto, CA.

=== Second Mauna Kea blockade and arrests, 2015 ===
Beginning in late March 2015 demonstrators halted construction crews near the visitors center, again by blocking access of the road to the summit of the mountain. Heavy equipment had already been placed near the site. Daniel Meisenzahl, a spokesman for the University of Hawaii, stated that the 5 tractors trailers of equipment that were moved up the mountain the day before had alerted protesters that began organizing the demonstrations. Kamahana Kealoha of the group Sacred Mauna Kea stated that over 100 demonstrators had traveled up to the summit to camp overnight, to be joined by more protesters in the early morning to blockade crews. On April 2, 2015, 300 protesters were gathered near the visitor center where 12 people were arrested. 11 more protesters were arrested at the summit. Protesters, ranging in age from 27 to 75 years of age were handcuffed and led away by local police. Among the major concerns of the protest groups is whether the land appraisals were done accurately and that Native Hawaiians were not consulted. When the trucks were finally allowed to pass, protesters followed the procession up the summit. A project spokesman said that work had begun after arrests were made and the road cleared.
Among the arrests was professional surfer and former candidate for mayor of Kauai, Dustin Barca. A number of celebrity activists of Native Hawaiian descent, both local and national, began campaigning over social media, including Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa who urged Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) to join the protests with him on top of Mauna Kea. Construction was halted for one week at the request of Hawaii state governor David Ige on April 7, 2015 after the protest on Mauna Kea continued and demonstrations began to appear over the state. Project Manager, Gary Sanders stated that TMT agreed to the one-week stop for continued dialogue. Kealoha Pisciotta, president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou viewed the development as positive but said opposition to the project would continue. Pisciotta also stated that the protests would continue to be within a Kapu Aloha; "moving in Aloha with steadfast determination".

=== Temporary halt ===
Governor Ige announced that the project was being temporarily postponed until at least April 20, 2015. In response to the growing protests the TMT Corporation's division of Hawaii Community Affairs launched an internet microsite, updating content regularly. The company also took to social media to respond to the opposition's growing momentum by hiring public relations firms to assist as the company's voice in the islands. TMT sublease payments on hold following order for a contested case hearing.

=== National and international demonstrations ===

The protests sparked statewide, national as well as international attention to Hawaiian culture, Mauna Kea and the 45-year history of 13 other telescopes on the mountain.
At the University of Hawaii Manoa, hundreds of students lined the streets for blocks and, one by one, they passed the stones from the student taro patch of the university's Center on Hawaiian Studies down the human chain to the lawn in front of the office university president, David Lassner, where the stones were used to build an ahu (the altar of a heiau) as a message to the university.
On April 21, 2015, hundreds of protesters filled the streets of Honolulu protesting against the TMT.