An elderly American has been arrested after a gunman was caught on camera walking up to environmental protesters blocking a Panamanian highway Tuesday and blasting two of them to death.
Disturbing footage showed a man with gray hair and glasses casually approaching the blockade on the Pan-American Highway and waving his finger while arguing with the demonstrators — before pulling out a gun and opening fire. [emphasis, links added]
Other footage showed people standing around bodies in the road in the Chame sector west of Panama City as well as the gunman being cuffed and led to a squad car.
Police later shared a photo of the suspect handcuffed to a pipe as he was identified as Kenneth Darlington, 77, a lawyer and professor who holds dual citizenship in the US and Panama, according to Newsroom Panama and Agence France-Presse.
One of the shot protesters died at the scene while the second was pronounced dead at a local hospital, AFP said.
The violence came during the third week of protests over a large mining contract that allows Canada-based First Quantum Minerals to operate the region’s largest pit copper mine for at least 20 more years.
The roadblocks have caused up to $80 million in daily losses to businesses and have shuttered schools nationwide for more than a week.
Panama President Laurentino Cortizo sent his condolences to the dead protesters’ families, saying that such a crime “has no place” in his nation’s supportive society.
Expreso mis condolencias a las familias de los dos ciudadanos que perdieron la vida en un incidente registrado este martes en un sector de Panamá Oeste. Se trata de un hecho que no tiene cabida en una sociedad llamada a ser solidaria como la nuestra.
— Nito Cortizo (@NitoCortizo) November 8, 2023
The deadly shooting came after Panamanian media reported that a demonstrator was run over and killed last week by a foreigner attempting to drive past a roadblock.
The 19,000-mile Pan-American Highway is the world’s longest route, spanning from Alaska to Argentina with a break in the Darién Gap.
Read more at NY Post
Shooting the people blocking the highway was an act of a vigilante. In almost all case vigilantes arise from the failure of law enforcement to do its job. The blocking of the Panamanian Highway had been going on for three weeks and the police failed to stop it. The real villains are those who chose to break the law by block the highway. Also at fault are the police or those controlling them who failed to stop the demonstrators. The shooter and hundreds of other motorist are the victims.
Now i suppose those two Eco-Freaks will become Martyrs for their Climate Nuts crusade and the Micro-Brain Liberals will blame Gun Ownership for this
Many millions lost, society blocked, who is surprised that violence ensues? It is disruption of lives,, education, and the economy and equivalent to killing people by stealing people-years of their lives. Add it up and you have lost lives. Defense with a gun is thus not out of the question. Perhaps if more of them die, they will get the message and desist. in addition, the police have to stop being so patient and allowing these “peaceful” protests, actually protecting them (stupid and sick), which are actually violent and stopping people’s lives. They should be hauled off and arrested.