Man who gunned down Panama eco-protesters revealed as US lawyer Kenneth Darlington ‘who had arsenal with AK-47 & M-16’
THE man who shot two eco-protesters dead on a busy Panama road had a chilling history with guns.
Kenneth Darlington, 77, reportedly owned an arsenal of assault weapons from a powerful AK-47 to multiple M-16 rifles.
The retired US lawyer and professor was seen calmly getting out of his car on Tuesday November 7, before brutally gunning down two anti-mining demonstrators who had caused a roadblock.
In the horror video of the attack the elderly shooter can be seen waving a small handgun around, moments before he fires at least two bullets at peaceful protesters.
Local media in Panama reported that Darlington has been in trouble with the law over gun possession before.
Back in 2005, police found a number of scary assault weapons -including an AK-47 and two M-16’s – in his Paitilla apartment.
According to NewsRoom Panama, he faced charges over illegal possession of a firearm but was acquitted after claiming the weapons were part of his personal collection.
He was also reportedly employed as a spokesman for Marc Harris, a Panamanian accountant who was jailed over money laundering and tax evasion charges.
Harris was given 17 years in prison back in 2004.
The brutal killing of the two protesters was caught on camera by TV crews and photographers who were reporting on the roadblock.
Hundreds watched on from cars or by the roadside as the nightmare ordeal unfolded.
Darlington holds dual citizenship in the US and Panama and was arrested for murder and illegal possession of a gun according to the victim’s lawyers Eliécer Plicett, TVN Noticias reported.
One of the victims, Abdiel Díaz, a teacher, died at the scene.
While the other man, Iván Rodríguez, 62, was taken to the nearest hospital but was dead before he arrived.
A third man was also left injured and is in hospital.
Panama President Laurentino Cortizo sent his condolences to the dead protesters’ families, saying: “I express my condolences to the families of the two citizens who lost their lives in an incident that occurred this Tuesday in a sector of Panama Oeste.
“This is a fact that has no place in a society called to be supportive like ours.”
Several roads in the capital were blocked on Tuesday as the Pan-American Highway was also badly obstructed in several places.
The blocks have caused up to £70million in daily losses to businesses and schools have been shut for more than a week across the country.
Demonstrations first erupted after the awarding of a contract extension to Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to continue to work on an open-pit copper mine in a jungle near Panama City.
In an effort to calm protests, congress last week passed a law that left it up to the Supreme Court to decide on if the contract with First Quantum Minerals would be allowed.
Environmental groups backed the decision but the Suntracs union, made up of teachers unions and other organisations, are ordering for the contract to be ripped up.