The Native Hawaiian actor was protesting against the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope
Bounding Into Comics reports that Aquaman star Jason Momoa had himself photographed “getting arrested” whilst protesting for the preservation of Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea.
A Thirty Meter Telescope is being proposed to be built on the sacred Hawaiian volcano Mauna Kea. He was joined by many other Hawaiians as well as his Justice League co-star Ezra Miller in defending the volcano.
The 40-year-old actor then posed for a photo appearing to be handcuffed by four policemen in Hawaii. Clearly the photo is staged, showing Momoa smirking and the policemen smiling.
Momoa’s father is of Native Hawaiian ancestry and has Native American ancestry form his mother’s side. His background inspired his character’s backstory in 2018’s Aquaman.
Speaking to CNN, Momoa said the dormant volcano is considered sacred to locals.
“It’s kind of the umbilical cord to earth,”he said. “You know, if you think about the Hawaiian islands, that’s the biggest mountain in the world, right? All the way up. So Mauna Kea is the most sacred. They call it the belly button, too. That’s like our birth place. You can imagine that in the middle of the ocean. That’s how our islands were formed. So how can that not be sacred?”
“It started in 2015, heard the news about it and you know, it’s, it’s my home. I’m Hawaiian. It’s my nationality. What’s happening over there was just not right,” Momoa continued. “And I wanted to bring awareness to it. And I went over there to meet with everyone and from then on, it’s just been this constant as a devotion to bringing awareness to the world.”