03-26-2019, 04:58 PM
"Didn't TMT have plenty of support? Except that our "elected officials" somehow gave more support to the protectors..."
Back during the protests, there was an incident where a couple of observatory staff were "ambushed" while trying to drive to the summit (they were not TMT staff). They called 911 but the incident was not responded to by the police.
A year or two later, there was a meeting between the observatories and police about summit security and police responsibilities. Out of that meeting came the "reassurance" that police must respond to 911 calls, so the then captain of the police was questioned by those staff members why they didn't get a response that day. I witnessed and took part in that discussion. The captain said it was not right and he would look into the incident and tell us what happened.
Despite repeated attempts to get that information from the police, no information has been forthcoming. That probably says enough about what observatory staff expect the next time TMT tries to start construction on Mauna Kea.
Back during the protests, there was an incident where a couple of observatory staff were "ambushed" while trying to drive to the summit (they were not TMT staff). They called 911 but the incident was not responded to by the police.
A year or two later, there was a meeting between the observatories and police about summit security and police responsibilities. Out of that meeting came the "reassurance" that police must respond to 911 calls, so the then captain of the police was questioned by those staff members why they didn't get a response that day. I witnessed and took part in that discussion. The captain said it was not right and he would look into the incident and tell us what happened.
Despite repeated attempts to get that information from the police, no information has been forthcoming. That probably says enough about what observatory staff expect the next time TMT tries to start construction on Mauna Kea.