Eight people were arrested early Wednesday morning at a protest camp across the road from the Mauna Kea Visitors Center on Hawaii Island.

According to a press release from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which has authority to enforce rules on the mountain, seven women and one man were arrested for being present “in the restricted area, outlined in the emergency rule passed by the Board of Land and Natural Resources and signed by Governor Ige.”

The men and women were transported by the Hawaii County Police Department to Hilo for booking.

Screen shot taken Sept. 15.

DLNR

Protesters on Mauna Kea, many of whom call themselves protectors of a mountain they consider sacred to many Native Hawaiians, have fought for months to block construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope. Just last month, a lawsuit arguing that the state erred in permitting the TMT project was heard by the Hawaii Supreme Court.

DLNR said in a statement not long after the arrests, “This is the second law enforcement action on Mauna Kea, since the enactment of the 120-day-long emergency rule, intended to establish safe conditions on the mountain for protestors, observatory workers and visitors. During an earlier round of enforcement on July 31, 2015, six people received citations and seven people were arrested.”

Twenty officers from the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement made the arrests.

Those arrested were Bronson Kobayashi, 23, of Hilo; Sandy Kamaka, 46, of Kailua-Kona; Hawane Rios, 26, of Waimea; Jennifer Leinaala Sleightholm, 41, of Waikoloa; Shanell Subica, 43, of Kailua-Kona; Kuuipo Freitas, 26, of Kona; Patricia Ikeda, 65, of Captain Cook; and Ruth Aloua, 26, of Kailua-Kona.