Amber Nitchman, Eric Blevins, David Aaron Smith, David Baghdadi, Benard Fiorillo, Josh Graupera and Isabelle Rozendaal stopped a blast site on Coal River Mountain for nine days, now their total bail amounts to $9,625.00. Nitchman and Blevins are still in jail, held for a combined cash-only total of $5,000.
Please donate to the Mountain Justice legal defense fund: Paypal, or another method.
Bail is paid to the state of West Virginia to release people who have been arrested. The state then returns it in full when the person goes to trial. A donation to the legal fund stays in the campaign and enables us to expand the campaign of civil resistance.
The most egregious charge out of all seven people was the concealed weapon charge levied against Baghdadi for a limb saw. He was trying to get the saw to Nitchman so she could saw off a sapling that was being repeatedly slammed into her platform. The three sitters were charged with trespass, conspiracy and obstruction, while the remaining four were charged with trespass and conspiracy.
Thank you everyone who has supported us for almost a year on the front lines. Friends have loaned thousands of dollars to get people out of jail, but those loans must be repaid soon. Some people are also not able to pay all the fines that judges gave them after arrest.
It’s equally important, in order to maintain a robust action agenda, to continually raise legal funds as we stick it to mountaintop removal and the largest coal mine operator in Appalachia: Massey Energy.
You can also support us in a more indirect fashion through the purchase of the critically acclaimed Still Moving Mountains CD, or the long-awaited photojournalistic exposé, Dragline.
Tags: Amber Nitchman, bail, Climate Ground Zero, eric blevins, Isabelle, tree sit
Why can’t you just answer the question….if you had to choose right at this moment, will it be water to drink and air to breathe or your electric? I know what you would choose. Hopefully for your child’s sake it would be the water and air. Just answer the question.
I choose all of them. It is not a pick or choose situation. You don’t choose deer over bear or one bird over another. We can have and had all of those things for years. My children have good clean water and air. My children have clothes, food, shelter, good schools, the priviledge to grow up in a small town with low crime rates, and medical insurance. I have one in college. My children enjoy all of the things they need and some of the things they want. My wife and I, with the good lords help, will see to it. The family’s of both my wife and I grew up in coal towns. I am proud to be employed in the Surface Mining industry. Frankly, I will take care of my kids, I dont need/want your help. I will raise them here as past generations of my family have done. I have left WV a couple of times only to find the grass was not greener. My hands are black with coal dust, I am proud of that. Water, Air, Coal, yea we have it all. My family and I enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, trail riding, and so on. We enjoy WV’s all four seasons and wonderful culture. My children are happy and are raised in a loving home. Scarey, huh. Not quite the picture you try to paint of WV or its people.
If you are as secure as you try to pretend to be then just answer the question……right now if you HAD to choose…clean water and air or coal…..go ahead choose….pick which one you want. You can’t have them all. ????? You know what the answer has to be don’t you. You know in your heart what the answer has to be. Quit lying to yourself. At some point and time you know we will have to choose and it might be too late. Can you live with that? Can you really live with knowing that you might have contributed to your children or grandchildren not having clean water to drink or air to breathe…By the way, I am WV and it’s people for generations. I know people have to tell themselves what they need to in order to be able to sleep at night but the seed is planted or otherwise you would just answer the question. YOu know it, I know it and many, many other people know it. MTR is seeing it’s last days. We will win this fight. You can thank us later.
Em, you can’t have them all ? I’ve had them all for better than 50yrs here in W V and I along with my family are doing fine, thank you.
No excise taxes on wind energy huh? Well it is on the way, maybe not here, but is in Wyoming. What does that have to do with WV, you ask? Everyone hits the ground running when something like this happens and follows suit. eM, I want them all, there you have it. More importantly I can sleep at night because kids in this area are more likely to die from drugs. Kids in this area do not have a chance because the “family” as Almighty God has ordained it to be, have kids but have no plans to be parents anytime in their lives. You served this country, do you take pride in Chernobyl? How about blasting the non existent terrorist Osama Bin Laden, in the mountains of Afghanistan? You don’t think that has harmed innocents? How about flying a B-52 bomber that holds 1,000’s gallons of fuel, but when a mission is aborted there is only one way a B-52 can land with a close max of fuel? Drop it somewhere. Now, can you fix that? Neither of us can. It’s life as we know it. 15 year olds killing? Elementary school girls planning pregnancies? Kid’s growing up with their grandparents? I don’t know I don’t have an answer for you. I do have a statement though, God knows what is best and he will prevail, you believe in that right? 60% of American people on anti-depressants, I wonder why? We are in a point in America when people looking at the Duggars as being more crazy than some of the points I talk about.
I stand by my answer. Like it or not. It seems others agree.
Progress Miner, you make some very good points and many things you say I agree on but the things I’m not proud of I do think we can change if we do it collectively. I don’t know how exactly but by taking a stand on something I feel that at least I’m trying to make something better. I don’t want to be the person that just sits idly by and accepts the status quo. Where would be in this world right now if everyone did that? If no one stood or fought for what is right. I believe in my heart that this planet can’t take much more abuse from we humans and I think there are many, many things we can do better so I’m going to try and help get those changes going. I’ve always tried to teach my children that if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything…not sure exactly who said that quote originally but I see a lot of importance in it. Greed and destruction is not something I see to be proud of so I will fight as hard as I can to see an end to mountain top removal mining. I will fight as hard as I can to see peace in this world. I will fight as hard as I can to see an end to discrimination of people based on race, religion or sexual orientation. I will fight as hard as I can to see an end to child abuse. But foremost we have to start preserving our Earth or there won’t be any reason to worry about anything else.
eM, understood, thank you, and God Bless.