Who is Kenneth Darlington? Video Shows Gunman Shoot Dead Panama Protesters

An American man has reportedly been arrested in Panama after allegedly shooting dead two people who were participating in protests against a controversial government mining contract.

Police in Panama arrested 77-year-old Kenneth Darlington in connection with the incident on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse and local news media reported.

"The National Police apprehended an elderly adult allegedly linked to an incident where two people lost their lives in the Chame district," west of Panama City, the police said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that has since been deleted.

The post included a photo showing the suspect wearing glasses and a gray shirt, and handcuffed to a pipe.

Darlington is a lawyer and professor who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Panama, according to Newsroom Panama.

The U.S. State Department has been contacted for comment via email.

Local news reports said the protesters were shot by a driver who was trying to get past the protest.

They were identified as Iván Rodríguez, 62, and Abdiel Díaz. Díaz died at the scene while Rodríguez was pronounced dead at a local hospital, AFP reported.

They were hit "with a pistol-type firearm, at the moment that there was an argument with the protesters who kept the road closed," police said, according to the agency.

Warning: Graphic footage

Video circulating on social media appeared to show the alleged assailant carrying a gun and removing a tire from the road blockade, before opening fire. The footage later shows police taking the man into custody.

Panama President Laurentino Cortizo expressed his condolences "to the families of the two citizens who lost their lives" on Tuesday.

"This is an event that has no place in a society called to be supportive like ours," he wrote on X.

The incident occurred in the third week of of nationwide protests over a contract, given final approval on October 20, that allowed the local subsidiary of Canadian mining company First Quantum Minerals to continue operating an open-pit copper mine in a richly biodiverse jungle west of the capital for the next 20 years. There was also an option to extend for another 20 years, in return for $375 million in annual revenue to Panama.

The road blocks set up by protesters have caused up to $80 million in daily losses to businesses, Reuters reported, citing Panama's association of company executives. Schools have been closed nationwide for over a week.

Since the protests began, the government almost passed legislation that would have revoked the contract, but later backtracked.

According to local news, a protester was run over and killed on November 1 by a foreigner attempting to cross a roadblock during a protest in the west of the country.