78
COURTESY HAWAII DLNR
Officers are shown dismantling a tent at the site of a protest camp on the Big Island near the Mauna Kea Visitors Center.
Nineteen state conservation officers early Monday morning with support from Hawaii County police dismantled a tent erected near the Mauna Kea Visitors Center by people protesting the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope.
A hale adjacent to the tent was not removed.
No arrests were made.
The campsite at the 9,000-foot elevation was empty when the officers arrived during an early morning drizzle at 12:45 a.m.Monday.
It was the third operation conducted by the state under covered by the 120 day emergency rule, passed in June by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.
The emergency rule prohibits camping in the restricted area between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
In an understanding reached last week, protesters had agreed to vacate the tent.
A written warning notice was posted on tent last Wednesday. Officers confiscated it Monday after its owner failed to claim it and take it down.
Unlike two previous law enforcement operations, no one was arrested during this third sweep.
Protesters were camping on the mountain in an attempt to block construction, which has been stalled since April. Since then, 15 people were arrested as a result of the 120-day emergency rule.
On July 31, 2015, six people received citations and seven people were arrested.
On Sept. 9, eight people were arrested for being in the restricted area.
