HILO, Hawaiʻi — A lawsuit challenging the use of police forces from other islands to respond to protests over a giant telescope planned for Maunakea is headed to the state Supreme Court.
Police officers from Oʻahu and Maui flew to Hawaiʻi Island in 2019 to respond to protesters who blocked the mountain's access road. Opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope say it will desecrate land held sacred by Native Hawaiians.
Hawaiʻi Island resident E. Kalani Flores’ lawsuit against police chiefs of Hawaiʻi County, Maui County and Honolulu forces argues his rights to observe Native Hawaiian cultural practices on Maunakea were violated by the police presence.
The state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case next month.
The lawsuit said police violated a state statute that a police chief can operate on a neighboring island if doing so is required in the pursuit of an investigation that started in that chief's jurisdiction.
The lawsuit was initially dismissed because of a technicality and later went before the state Intermediate Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the police chiefs.
