MAUNA KEA, Hawaii – Kamana’opono Crabbe, Ka Pouhana of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, speaks to media while on Mauna Kea during an OHA Board of Trustees site visit to Hale Kukia’imauna. Early in the morning, officers with the Department of Land and Natural Resources arrested eight people at the location, enforcing the 120-day-long emergency rules enacted by the state that forbids anyone from being within one mile of the Mauna Kea Access Road between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Big Island Video News will have more from the OHA site visit shortly.

OHA: Official Statement

statement from the office of Hawaiian Affairs on Sept. 9, 2015

“The Office of Hawaiian Affairs strongly condemns this morning’s arrests on Mauna Kea and again urges the state to cease further enforcement action and arrests until legal questions relating to the Mauna Kea emergency rules are properly resolved. It is our understanding that the individuals were arrested this morning while they were in the act of pule, or prayer. Native Hawaiians have constitutionally protected rights to reasonably engage in traditional and customary practices, and regulations cannot eliminate the exercise of these rights. We hope for a resolution that ensures our beneficiaries’ rights are protected instead of violated.”