MADISON, W.Va.–Two activists arrested on May 23 at a protest on Kayford Mountain are facing up to eighteen months in prison, while five others were fined $1,844 each. They were all charged with conspiracy and criminal trespass.
After being denied a plea agreement, five of the defendants pleaded no contest and received a sentence from the magistrate. They were fined $1,000 for conspiracy, $500 for criminal trespass and $318.50 in court fees. In addition, the defendants were charged a $25 “arrest fee,” which covers the costs of the Boone County Sheriff Department doing its job.
“We were more or less backed into a corner at the hearing. Slow processing in the magistrate’s office meant almost no one had been able to speak with their public defender prior to the hearing, and three of us didn’t even have one because of poor scheduling by the public defender’s office,” said Kim Kirkbride, “With better legal services, we wouldn’t have had to accept this ridiculous fine.”
Mathew Louis-Rosenberg and Glen Scott David Collins, the defendants taking their trials to jury, intend to plead necessity, arguing that their action was crucial in preventing the greater crime of mountaintop removal.
“The miner who threatened to kill a 3 year old boy on Kayford Mountain walks free, while peaceful protesters are facing significant jail time,” commented Louis-Rosenberg, “From the recent Supreme Court decision allowing a second silo even closer to Marsh Fork Elementary School to the small county court we were in, it seems that the judicial system in West Virginia is more concerned with protecting coal companies than people.”
In the May 23 protest, the activists locked themselves to a five-story rock truck and displayed a banner saying “Never Again” for four hours before being removed by Boone County sheriffs and state police.
Visit the Mountain Justice website to donate to the legal fund and help the Kayford activists pay their fines and court fees.
This job is now closed down…so does anyone have an idea for a job these men and women can apply for?
Whatever will Larry do now?
Oh, there’s plenty of other mountains left to destroy.
I still can’t quit chuckling when I read 5-story rock truck. Are they really that vague or is it pure innocence due to lack of knowledge?