A driver who shot two environmental protesters blocking a road in Panama on Tuesday was a retired American lawyer, it turns out.
Kenneth Darlington, 77, appeared before a judge in the town of La Espiga on Wednesday afternoon and was remanded in custody after a two-hour hearing.
According to local media, the Panama-born US citizen who was seen in both videos and images shooting two teachers blocking a road on a highway in the country has a previous conviction for illegal weapons possession.
On Tuesday, he was seen walking to a roadblock on a stretch of the Pan-American Highway in Chame district, about 55 miles west of the capital Panama City, before getting into a heated argument with the two victims.
He then opened fire in front of numerous photographers and television crews. Eliécer Plicett, a lawyer for the two victims, said Darlington would be charged with murder and illegal possession of weapons, TVN Noticias reported.
A driver who shot two environmental protesters blocking a road in Panama on Tuesday has been revealed to be a retired American lawyer (pictured).
Kenneth Darlington, 77, (seen Tuesday) appeared before a judge in the town of La Espiga on Wednesday afternoon and was remanded in custody after a two-hour hearing.
Darlington, 77, was seen pulling a gun out of his pocket and brandishing it in front of protesters in the middle of the street as he got into a heated argument with them
Darlington gestures with the pistol in his right hand as he argues with the protesters blocking the street
A man wearing a black T-shirt with a flag got into a heated argument with Darlington (left). A video of the incident shows the man with the flag falling to the ground
This is the shocking moment one of two environmental protesters blocking a road in Panama was shot dead by the angry driver who told the other: “It ends here.”
The first man to be shot is seen being treated on the ground by two bystanders
A second man also confronted the armed men. This photo was taken shortly before he was also photographed by Darlington in Chame, Panama
Demonstrators have been protesting for three weeks against the Panamanian government’s agreement with a Canadian company to operate Central America’s largest open-pit copper mine for at least another 20 years.
The mine is located in an ecologically sensitive area.
Darlington, who lived in the exclusive Paitilla neighborhood of Panama City, reportedly said to the other passengers in the car as he got out, “This ends today.”
He takes a pistol out of his pocket and then, still arguing, begins to clear the barrier on the highway.
TVN reported that Darlington asked several teachers who the leaders of the demonstration were. The protesting teachers told him that there were no leaders, to which he replied, “I don’t want to talk to women. I want to talk to men.”
The court hearing heard there were several men at the scene and three men approached him to calm the situation. This can be seen in footage of the incident leading up to the shooting.
One of the protesters can be heard saying: “Why aren’t you shooting?”
Darlington is then seen opening fire.
The first victim immediately fell to the ground. A second man is seen holding his shoulder, grimacing in pain and staggering to the side of the road.
According to The Times, one of the victims, Abdiel Díaz, died at the scene.
The other victim, Iván Rodríguez, 62, was taken to the Juan Vega Méndez Clinic in the nearby city of San Carlos, but was dead on arrival at the hospital.
TVN reported that after continuing to clear the roadblock, Darlington returned to his car with the pistol still in his hand.
One of the other people in the car asked him: “Do you know what happened?” The court heard his answer: “Yes, I killed one and shot another.”
He then got into the car and said to a woman – supposedly his girlfriend: “Let’s go.”
She replied: “We’re not leaving.” TVN reports that the woman then called the national police, who later stopped the car and confiscated the firearm. Footage shared on social media showed Darlington being handcuffed and led away by police.
Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo expressed condolences to the families of the dead protesters and said such a crime had “no place” in his country.
Local media reported that Darlington, who was born in Panama’s Colon province, was trying to return inland after running various errands in the town of La Chorrera when he encountered the roadblock.
On Tuesday, as protests entered their third week, trucks were seen stranded near Sillimin in western Panama
He went to the barricade and asked where the protest leaders were. According to TVN, he was told that no leaders were present.
“I don’t want to talk to women,” he reportedly said. “I want to talk to the men.”
According to the complaint, a handful of men approached Darlington and Darlington opened fire. According to TVN, he shot three men and the third remains in hospital.
He was allegedly overheard declaring, “That solves the problem.”
Darlington then begins clearing the roadblock and returns to his car where two women were waiting.
According to TVN, one of the shocked women in the car asked him: “Do you know what you just did?”
Darlington reportedly replies, “Yes, I killed one and shot another.”
He got into the car and said to the two women, “Let’s go.”
Darlington’s girlfriend told him: “We’re not leaving” – and then called the police, TVN said.
Darlington will appear in court on November 15 in Panama City.
He was arrested in 2005 after weapons – including an AK-47 and an M-16 – were found in his Panama City apartment. However, he was acquitted after a court accepted his plea that the weapons were part of a collection.
He was also employed as a spokesman for Marc Harris, a Panamanian accountant who was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2004 for money laundering and tax evasion.
A woman wrapped in a Panamanian flag lights a candle during a vigil Wednesday evening
Protesters are holding a vigil on Wednesday evening to remember the two teachers and climate activists who were shot on Tuesday
A vigil will take place in Panama on Wednesday evening
On Tuesday, people took part in a roadblock to protest against a major mining contract on a main road near Silimin in western Panama
The deaths came as street protests by thousands of Panamanians in recent weeks against a new mining contract with Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals led to greater discontent with the government.
Road blockades set up by protesters have caused businesses up to $80 million in daily losses, according to the Panamanian Business Association. Schools nationwide were closed for over a week and more than 150,000 medical appointments were missed.
Officials urged people to end the protests, although construction workers and teachers unions have vowed to continue taking to the streets until the First Quantum contract is canceled.
The new contract, agreed on October 20, was put into effect by the Panamanian government and provides First Quantum with a 20-year mining right, with an option to extend for an additional 20 years, in return for $375 million in annual revenue to Panama.
While the government has said the new contract offers better conditions than the previous one, protesters disagree.