A man calling himself the king of Hawaii didn’t have the support of Thirty Meter Telescope opponents when he threatened to send armed “royal marshals” to defend them, according to a protester.
Edmund K. Silva Jr., who refers to himself as “His Majesty,” sent a letter Aug. 23 to Gov. David Ige saying he was contemplating deployment of his marshals to Mauna Kea and Haleakala to defend telescope protesters from arrest.
“The Royal Marshals are professionals holding the authority and power issued by me to carry side arms and other weapons to enforce the laws of the Kingdom of Hawaii,” said Silva, with the subject line, “Let there be no misunderstanding.”
Lakea Trask, a TMT protester, said Silva was not representing the protesters when he made that threat.
“Those guys came up a few times early on in this stand,” he said.
“They are not part of what we are doing on the mountain.”
Trask said such an action would violate “kapu aloha,” the nonviolent stance the protest leaders have tried to maintain.
“There’s no place for that on our mountain,” he said.
In another letter to Ige on Sept. 9, Silva suggested there was no need for the marshals because the protesters “have already won.”
He also in the letter repeated a conspiracy theory spread on social media that claims the observatory will be used as a military weapon by the United States to target satellites.
Michael Bolte, a board member of the TMT International Observatory, said the telescope, which includes five international partners, won’t have any military uses or capabilities.
“None of the telescopes on Mauna Kea have any military uses at all, absolutely zero,” he said.
“When we see that again and again, I find it a little frustrating that people continue to make statements like that.”
Lanny Sinkin, a Big Island resident who says he acts as Silva’s chief advocate, said in an email that the “King is committed to protecting his people from abuse. At the same time, he is not pursuing a confrontation with the United States or its subordinate governments or agencies.”
Sinkin added that the “Kingdom” is convinced that the state Supreme Court will void the TMT’s construction permit and that arrests on the mountain are a waste of “time and money.”
Silva’s website — http://kingdomofhawaii.info/ — says he can trace his lineage to Kamehameha the Great.
Jodi Leong, Ige’s press secretary, said Silva has his right to free speech but declined additional comment on the letters.
Other Hawaiian sovereignty or independence groups have assisted the protesters, including a group calling itself the “Lawful Hawaiian Government.”
The $1.4 billion TMT project, which will be capable of seeing more than 13 billion light years away, is supported by Caltech, University of California, and research institutions in Japan, Canada, China and India.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
