Merner and three others locked to doors of WVDEP's headquarters.
Roland Micklem was not the only person in court today over his opposition to mountaintop removal. Laura Merner and Gabe Schwartzman were also in Kanawha County Magistrate Court for separate reasons. Merner was in court for the action on August 11, where she and three others locked to the doors of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection headquarters (initial post and video) demanding its leader Randy Huffman resign. Merner is now on probation for one year and is restricted from the State Capital and the DEP in Kanawha County, marking the first probation of the campaign.
Gabe Schwartzman had a hearing before Mag. Paris Workman for the October 10 banner-drop on Walker CAT’s headquarters, which challenged Walker’s misleading pro-coal advertising campaign. The defense attorney argued Schwartzman’s actions came from necessity to uphold the Clean Water Act, yet Schwarzman was found guilty of trespassing and fined $100.
Banner-drop on Walker CAT's headquarters challenging the company's misleading pro-coal advertising.
Roland Micklem was arrested this morning for failing to appear in court for allegedly trespassing on Walker CAT property during the Senior Citizen’s March to End Mountaintop Removal. Micklem claims he never recieved a notice to appear, and he claims he never enter any marked ‘No Trespassing’ areas nor was he asked to leave while on Walker CAT property. His arresting officer, Chief D.B. Cox, mentioned other outstanding warrants but did not name those implicated. Micklem was released on his own personal recognizance and has returned to the State Capital.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Dea Goblirsch 304 854 7372
Email: news@climategroundzero.org
MADISON, W.Va.—Joseph Hamsher, 22, was sentenced to twenty days in Southwestern Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing and plead guilty to conspiracy and trespassing asked to leave. Three other charges, also misdemeanors, were dropped as part of the plea agreement: destruction of property, failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest. Hamsher was the first of four protesters and one independent journalist arrested during the action to receive a pre-trial.
“The disgusting practice of mountaintop removal has to be brought to an end completely, not just more strictly regulated. I took action so that future generations of West Virginians can hunt, fish and have a good time in the mountains,” Hamsher, a native West Virginian and current resident of Rock Creek, Raleigh County, said.
The sentence was issued with credit for time served, which includes time spent in jail between Hamsher’s arrest on Sept. 9 and his release on bail on Sept. 11. Bail was set at $5,000 cash only for the four protesters and at $3,000 cash only for the journalist, with no ten percent bond option.
Hamsher is the 23rd protester in the Climate Ground Zero campaign to go in front of Magistrate Byrneside and the first to receive a jail sentence.
“I was told that I received this sentence because a previous defendant, Mathew Louis-Rosenberg, laughed in the Magistrate’s face when he was given a fine and because none of those previously fined have paid,” said Hamsher. None of the fines from the other cases are yet due.
“This is a clear attempt to intimidate activists and discourage future actions, as well as obviously prejudicial sentencing. When a strip miner threatened to kill one of our activists and his small child, the miner was not arrested for over a month and released on a $1000 personal recognizance bond,” said Louis-Rosenberg, referencing the arrest of Adam Pauley for disorderly conduct, public intoxication and verbal assault during Mountain Keepers Festival on Kayford this past July 4, “Joe was set a $5,000 cash-only bail and now faces jail time.”
“I remained calm and respectful throughout my trial, and the fact that he is using my expression of joy at not finding myself in jail as an excuse to jail one of my friends is frankly sickening,” Louis-Rosenberg, 26, continued.
This morning, just before dawn, four individuals chained themselves across a haul road on a strip mining site in Kanawha County, West Virginia to protest mountaintop removal mining. Four more joined them on site in support roles, unfurling two banners, one reading simply “Stop” and the other reading “Stop Mountaintop Removal.” This action was part of the ongoing Climate Ground Zero and Mountain Justice campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience.
All eight have been arrested and charged with trespassing asked to leave, conspiracy and obstruction. Bail is set at $2000, cash only, with no ten percent bond option. The arrestees include Ryan Olander, Maureen Farrell, Jonathan Irwin, Erika Zarowin, Andrea Lai, Alexander Lotorto, William Wickham and Jacqueline Quimby.
In order to meet bail, totalling $16,000, for these individuals who took a stand against an incredibly destructive form of coal mining and the human and environmental devastation of Appalachia, we need your help. To donate, please visit the Climate Ground Zero legal fund paypal:
This is the 16th in a series of civil disobedience actions taken this year by Climate Ground Zero, Mountain Justice, Coal River Valley residents, NASA climate scientist James Hansen, students, underground miners, military veterans, concerned citizens and environmentalists from across the nation with the goal of ending mountaintop removal.
To read the full text of the press release, please visit Climate Ground Zero.
Contact Dea Goblirsch or Charles Suggs at 304 854 7372 for questions.
MADISON, W. Va. – October 15, 2009 – In the second jury trial of the Climate Ground Zero campaign, Mat Louis-Rosenberg appeared before Boone County Magistrate Byrneside to plead a necessity defense on counts of trespassing and conspiracy.
On May 23, Louis-Rosenberg and seven others were arrested after locking themselves down to rock trucks on Kayford Mountain, halting work for four hours. Appearing before a jury, Louis-Rosenberg faced the risk of up to 18 months in jail.
Despite hearing evidence that Louis-Rosenberg was never asked to leave the site, the jury convicted Louis-Rosenberg on both charges and, while not incarcerated, he was sentenced to the maximum penalties of $1,500 plus court costs which brought the total to over $2,700. Six other activists that participated in the lockdown plead no contest and received maximum fines and court costs of $1844. After trial, Louis-Rosenberg returned to Rock Creek to appear on a panel at the Mountain Justice Fall Summit, a weekend of service and education focused around ending the devastation of mountaintop removal.
In a statement before his trial, Louis-Rosenberg explained why he wished to appear before a jury. “This campaign, just like the civil rights movement and many other struggles for change, is founded on a strategy of non-violent civil disobedience. And just like the civil rights movement, it draws its strength and its power from the willingness of ordinary people to take extraordinary risks and sacrifices because of the strength of their beliefs.
“My conscience demands that I stand up in that court room and explain to the people of Boone County why I did what I did. I will not contest the facts of what happened, but rather assert my belief that what I did was right, that I was stopping a far greater crime than I was committing. And if I go to jail because of it, I know that I go as many have gone before me, in defense of my friends, this land and my convictions.”
Wednesday, September 30th marked the first jury trial for the non-violent direct action movement to end mountaintop removal coal mining. Glen Collins was found guilty of trespassing (asked to leave) and conspiracy by a jury of six. On May 23rd of this year, Glen Collins and seven others locked themselves to a rock truck on Kayford Mountain to speak out against the crime of mountaintop removal. This action led to the eight of them being charged with the two crimes. During their pre-trial in July, six out of eight of the activist plead no contest and accepted a large fine. Glen Collins and Mat Lewis-Rosenburg plead not guilty. Glen stated before going into court yesterday “I believe that actions like this are necessary and just and if Boone County wants to take away my freedom for trying to protect its citizens from the atrocity that is mountaintop removal, then so be it.”
This morning at 9 am Glen Collins met at the Madison Courthouse in Boone County, West Virginia, to take his stand against mountaintop removal and risk the fate of spending up to eighteen months in jail. The prosecutor opened by saying “this is a simple case” where the defendant should be found guilty of both charges. The prosecutor made the case that Glen was asked to leave the mine site and that he did conspire to trespass with the other activists. The Defense attorney however made the case that trespassing could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt and conspiring to protest is not illegal. Although the Prosecutor’s argument lacked solid witnesses and evidence, Glen was found guilty by the jury on both accounts. Magistrate Burnside did not sentence Glen to jail time, but did give him maximum fines of 1,500 dollars plus court cost.
The morning started with the prosecutor calling Deputy Thompson and resigned Deputy Jarrell to the stand to testify. The two witnesses testified that they worked for the Boone County Sheriffs Department and that they were called in, and arrived at the Kayford Mountain mine site shortly after the Kanawha County officers. The mine site is on the border of Kanawha and Boone county lines and Kanawha officers had told Thompson and Jarrell that it was within Boone County’s jurisdiction. Kanawha County officers decided which county had jurisdiction because they were first on site and had told Officer Thompson that they had taken a GPS reading where the activist were locked down. This was rebutted by the Defense attorney because the two testifying officers made it clear that they did not actually take the GPS reading, look at property maps or perform any sort of survey themselves.
After a short cross examination the defense attorney pulled out a contract stating that Catenary mines does not actually own any property in Boone County. The contract brought forth by the defense attorney left the prosecutor and judge surprised and they took a break to research this evidence and then moved on without much concern for this evidence.
The defense attorney also stated that Glen was not guilty of trespassing because the court had brought forth no evidence that the property owner or agent had warned Glen he was trespassing or asked him to leave. Defense argued that although the deputies had testified that a mine worker had asked Glen to leave; this was hearsay and not factual evidence. However, the judge overruled the hearsay argument, because he called the deputies credible witnesses. “This is a prime example of a victimless crime” stated the defense attorney. In order for a crime to have been committed, the property owner or agent must have warned the defendant of trespassing and then ask him to leave. The victim should have been concerned enough to come to court to testify. The argument was also made that Glen could not have been trespassing because there were several entrances to this site, and there were no “no trespassing” signs posted anywhere except at the main entrance. The defense also stated that the conspiracy charges were absurd when there was no outstanding proof that the defendant was trespassing.
In the closing statements the defense stressed you can not guess and the evidence must be there, and it is not. The prosecutor closed with saying “it is what it is and the defendant should be found guilty.” Although in the face of an overwhelming lack of evidence, the citizens of Boone County found Glen Collins guilty of conspiracy and trespassing (ask to leave). Shortly after his trial Glen stated “he is surprised he is not in jail this evening, and looks forward to the appeal.” His bravery to stand up to this trial and go on with the appeals process show his dedication to end the destruction known as mountaintop removal. For more information of other court cases involving acts of civil disobedience against mountaintop removal, please read the Associated Press article by Vicki Smith Massey going after mountaintop removal protesters
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.
A Boone County court gave Massey a preliminary injunction on 14 activists who participated in a June 18th action at the Twilight Mine Site. At the hearing, Massey lawyers Sam Brock and Tim Houston claimed that the action, which involved climbing a drag line to unfurl a banner, shut down the mine for four hours and idled 170 to 180 workers.
The Massey lawyers asked that the fourteen activists arrested on the 18th, anyone acting in concert with them or affiliated with them be prohibited from participating in civil disobedience on Massey property or the property of any of its subsidiaries. Recent actions have caused Massey to police their own property and follow heightened safety procedures (a bad thing?). Judge Thompson pointedly asked the Massey representatives if they believed an injunction would stop the protestors, who had few qualms about breaking the law in the first place.
In the end, the defense chose not to present, asking instead for a summary judgment. The injunction was granted by presiding judge William Thompson, who stipulated that it only applied to Massey and subsidiary property within Boone County, W.Va.. The judge predicated his ruling with a speech in which he referred to civil disobedience as the back bone of this country, citing the Boston Tea Party as an example, and then emphasized the importance of following the law.
Thompson arrived in court two hours late and seemed disinterested in the proceedings.
Beckley, WV — The final four of seventeen people who were arrested this Memorial Day weekend after three separate acts of non violent civil disobedience on Massey Energy and Patriot Coal mine sites in southern West Virginia were released at 1:08pm today from the Raleigh County Southern Regional Jail.
BECKLEY, W.Va.—Seventeen mountaintop removal activists had no choice but to enforce the laws since all administrative remedies have been exhausted, said some of the activists and supporters at a press conference today. The four still-jailed activists were released on their own recognizance by Judge Burnside shortly after the press conference, which was held on the Raleigh County Courthouse steps.
“I’ve lived in West Virginia most of my life. I’m sick and tired of big business and the corrupt government telling us what to do,” began Sid Moye of Mercer County, who participated in the Picket at Pettus. “They come in and they can take our land, they can ruin our water and they can take our resources. It’s not right and somebody has to do something about it so we do the little things that we can.”
Eric Blevins, also arrested in the Pettus action, said, “I asked the officer arresting me if Massey is going to be allowed to blast near the dam and he didn’t want to talk about it. I asked him, doesn’t he have a responsibility to enforce the law, and he said ‘Not those laws.’”
“We locked down on the Kayford mountaintop removal site with mud from Mingo County on our boots,” Ashlee Henderson said in a statement from the Kayford 8, “After we were arrested we had the dust remains from Kayford Mountain added to that mud.”
“Just because a mining permit is applied for,” Debbie Jarrell of Rock Creek, Raleigh County asked the crowd, “Is there a law that states that it has to be granted? If there’s a cleaner way to develop energy, such as the Coal River Wind Project, should we not take advantage of it?”
Mat Louis-Rosenberg pointed out the absurdity of the littering charges for the two individuals on the Brushy Fork Dam and the $2,000 bail for each of the protesters. He contrasted the bail rate with the $1,800 fine Massey paid in 1999, when 14.5 miles of the Coal River were blackened with slurry and the $15,000 A & G Coal paid for the death of three year old Jeremy Davidson outside of Appalachia, Virginia in 2004.
“It was extremely unjust that the magistrate illegally posted such a high bail, when our maximum fine was only one hundred dollars,” said Laura Steepleton of the Pettus 7, who was released this afternoon. “He justified his statement by telling us that we had no ties to the area. As a human being and a citizen of this country I do not only have a tie to this area, but a responsibility to ensure security for these mountains and the safety for the people of this beautiful community. “
17 arrested in anti-mountaintop removal civil disobedience
Please donate to our legal fund at mountainjustice.org.
Seventeen courageous Mountain Justice volunteers were arrested Saturday, May 23 in a three-part civil disobedience action in our continuing movement to end mountaintop removal. Six are still in jail with bogus, unprecedented, $2,000 cash-only bail amounts, slowing their release. Many of them were arrested for the first time with clean records, and all they did was cross a line onto coal company property. We are raising $18,000 to get them out of jail as we move closer to defeating King Coal. Fundraising has bailed out three others since this morning. Thank you all!
The Kayford Eight were charged with trespass and conspiracy for walking onto the 12,000-acre-plus Kayford Mountain mine and locking themselves to a giant dump truck. Placing U-locks around their necks, they attached themselves to guardrails and the driveshaft of the truck after hanging a banner on the truck’s grill that read “Never Again!” Here is a statement from the Kayford Eight:
We locked down at the Kayford mountaintop removal site with mud from the Mingo County flood on our boots and now, with the dusty remains of Kayford Mountain on our boots, we stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers jailed for their actions to oppose mountaintop removal coal mining.
Also before dawn, two brave women, donning hazmat suits and respirators, boated onto the eight-billion-gallon Brushy Fork toxic coal slurry lake and launched a 60-foot floating banner that read “No more toxic sludge!” They were charged with trespass and littering. How can you litter on a giant toxic waste dump? Massey Energy has a permit to blast within 100 feet of this impoundment, which sits atop a honeycomb of abandoned deep mines. In 2000, more than 300 million gallons of coal slurry broke through the bottom of Massey’s Martin Co., Ky., impoundment, and into the deep mines beneath, then exploding into two watersheds, smothering aquatic life over 100 miles of streams. “Someone in jail said something to the effect of ‘I actually work there, yeah that dam’s gonna break,’” Ethan, one of the 17, said. A Brushy Fork failure would be over 23 times larger than Martin County.
Saturday’s two backcountry actions were followed by a picket at the mouth of Massey Energy’s Marfork mining complex, which includes the Brushy Fork dam, where more than 75 Coal River Valley residents and supporters emphasized the deadly danger of that impoundment: the 72-foot peak depth of the sludge at the Head Start facility there should the dam break. Seven people crossed the line onto Marfork’s property and were arrested for trespass.
While the Kayford Eight were released the same day, the other nine fared differently. The two Brushy Paddlers and four of the Pettus Seven are being held for $2,000 each, cash only. We know you love and care about the people of Appalachia! Now is the time to demonstrate your support through a donation to help bail out these committed and passionate activists. We really need your support more than ever at this crucial juncture in the movement to end mountaintop removal mining!
To donate by paypal and get more information, please go to www.mountainjustice.org.
If donating by mail, make out a check or money order to Mountain Justice at: P.O. Box 86, Naoma, WV, 25140.
For donations that have a much-needed immediate impact, call 304-854-1937. Thank you!
Massey’s lawyers are now trying to intimidate folks and squash the rising tide of resistance to MTR. After the first three actions, Massey sought and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) barring those already arrested from interfering with Massey’s operations in any way or assisting others to do so. But the order went further declaring that the restrictions applied to “all other persons allied, associated, confederating, conspiring, or acting in concert with them” and indeed anyone who ever finds about the TRO. You can read the TRO here (the good stuff is on page 5). This means you too are restrained! You are now enjoined from interfering with Massey Energy anywhere in the United States.
We have responded by filing a motion to vacate–get rid of–the TRO because it essentially restrains the entire world and we’re pretty sure you can’t do that. Just as the devastating effects of mountaintop removal mining and the global warming caused by the burning of coal effects us all, so do attempts to silence dissent and attack those that stand up for what is right. Please sign this letter to the court asking that the TRO be vacated.
