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Four Anti-Mountaintop Removal Activists Arrested at Home
Iran is not the only place where government agencies are trying to (marginally) disrupt people advocating for change.
Today, the West
Virginia State Police picked up four Climate Ground Zero activists at
home in Rock Creek on some old charges from October. Back during a
peaceful march organized by seniors
against mountaintop removal led by 81 year old Roland Micklem, two
young activists -Gabe Schwartzman, 19, and David German, 18- were
arrested for unfurling a banner on top of Walker CAT's headquarters.
The charges are related to that banner drop. Last month, the state
police arrested Micklem over the same incident.
As a result of the Oct. banner hang, Walker CAT president Steve Walker equated the anti-MTR activists holding a banner on his propert with terrorist suicide bombers, that's right, suicide bombers. Beyond the insult to real victims of actual suicide bombers, Walker's comment had only the intention of creating more tension in a West Virginia already marred by violence and intimidation.
Next month, Climate Ground Zero will have a three week winter action camp which will prepare 30-50 anti-MTR for actions in the Coal River Valley to carry out civil disobedience actions.
Could these arrests be a pre-emptive arrest to disrupt Climate Ground Zero's activities?
We've spent 2009 escalating the fight to end mountaintop removal. The coal industry spent 2009 escalating their rhetoric (example above) to cast us as "extremists" and "terrorists," and encouraging intimidation and violence in the coalfields. Now West Virginia law enforcement is arresting activists and lead organizers in Rock Creek on "old" charges.
Four Climate Ground Zero activists arrested today in Rock Creek, West Virginia.
Rock Creek, WV - At 3:47 pm, Tuesday, four Climate Ground Zero activists were arrested for trespass at their homes in Rock Creek, West Virginia. Matt Louis-Rosenberg, Jacqueline Quimby, Kimberly Ellis and James McGuiness were taken to the Kanawha County Courthouse by State Police. State Trooper Lt. Bowers. The charges stem from an October 10 demonstration at Walker CAT's headquarters, which challenged Walker's misleading pro-coal advertising campaign at which Gabe Schwartzman, 19, and David German, 18, were arrested by City of Belle Police and cited for trespassing on a structure or conveyance. The two had unfurled a banner which read, "Yes, Coal is Killing West Virginia's Communities" .
More information as the situation develops. For more information, call Mike Roselle, Climate Ground Zero 304 854 7372.
Comments
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27 Comments so far
Show All" Those who prevent peaceful change, make violent change inevitable" JFK
Constitution Shredders gone wild.
Switch to third party January 13 th
" If you are not part of the Solution than you are part of the Problem"
starting to feel like truthout huh? when some doesn't like what you say deleted
we have no true get it off your chest sites anymore! so what if its all caps
is that censorship? capitals sounds like danger will robinson to me! anyone
care to comment?
Maybe they too show their disdain of Capitalism?
Go ahead, convince me that the u.s. isn't moving towards a facsist police state.
... galloping towards ... Convince me otherwise, Buck.
/cm
Why should we expect that the military-industrial complex would treat US citizens who happen to live near sources of energy any better than the people of Iraq or Nigeria are treated?
q
Just arrests would be of CoalCo. and CAT c.e.o.s for chronic perping of the Clean Water Act's 1985 DEADLINE for ELIMINATING such mountaintop spoil discharge into the Nation's streams and wetlands below!
Good, over use of caps are annoying.
I always pass them by, not worth reading.
What this country needs is to organize its terminal cancer patients into suicide bomber brigades.
That would certainly reduce "health care" costs. And it would scare the Bejeezuz out of people like Walker. Is that an oxygen tank on that wheelchair? Or...
-30-
Things are like this in Fascist Dictatorships. Our Republic was sold out long ago.
Perhaps as early as G. Washington and certainly no later than the adoption of "our" Constitution. And, the compounding by the Calhounistas, Lincolnians and merchant princes who assumed power over government.
Yes, our democracy and our republic were subverted.
But...
Remember Ireland. It took nearly four hundred years to recover independence.
Remember Poland, and Czech and Slovak Republics.
And, many more.
Remember, it can be done.
Well this isn't suprising coming from West Virginia. I think the school system there stops at 7th grade.
About 15 years ago I was doing a compilation and comparison of educational materials from different states as part of a volunteer effort to improve science education. West Virginia's Dept. of Education made some wonderfully designed lesson plans and curriculum material available to the general public. As always, there are some dedicated people trying to make life better under very bad conditions.
Joe
Was it Coxey County W.V. where 5,000 armed miners marched on the County seat ? And stole a plane and bombed the mines in the '30's ?
Everyone has their strengths.
The so-called "PATRIOT ACT" makes interference in commerce a "terrorist act."
No, Really.
Does anybody else recall when Prez. Shamwow PLEDGED to "fix" it?
Does anyone else think he'll try to "fix" HCR?
Me, neither.
Imagine arresting someone in their home for unfurling a banner. The police are being diligent in following through on orders from the local money.
As they said in the song "Poor Old Marat": Yesterday, the printing press.... And tonight they're asking your home address.
Joe
This is why the psy-operative word in Joe Iieberman's seeming babble about Yemen is "preemptive"...
don't forget that obomba otomma never restored
habeus corpus like he promised during his campaigning
for the presidency! this is police state acting like they have and will as we ramp up the pressure. funniest thing. yesterday
i drove thru wv and as you enter they have highway signs
warning of a 2500.00 fine for littering. this is the stuff
of vonnegut or carlin! completely demolishing mountains
or digging holes so big they could be seen from the space
shuttle with a small telescope and you could be fined
for a candy wrapper!!! the truth is ALWAYS stranger then
fiction only in america!!!!!
Compare this with the CD article about Israeli nuclear scientist Mordechai Vannunu.
It would seem that the West is going back to it's old ways of silencing dissent by force.
Time to pack your bags and find a quiet place out of the way...
Suggestions for a "quiet place out of the way??
I am sure there are many small, mostly abandoned towns in the midwest and west, prey to the sub-prime meltdown that is now being paid off by Obama using your children's future.
Look around.
I can only speak for my situation in BC, Canada, but even here there are places off the beaten path that can be used for small intentional communities that are off the grid.
No one has ever left those ways.
These police are just federally-rationalized Pinkertons, and they are backed up by the FBI and Department of Heimat Security. With the Rubicon legally crossed (crossed out?) the US army is just Pinkertons on steroids (with passports). We will have to have courage to stop climate catastrophe.
The police are just goons for the rich. They are now and always were! Police work, anyway, is a low level of moral and ethical development. Good boy, good girl sort of thing. Somehow they equate wealth with virtue. They see Civil Disobedience, liberal activism as criminal rather than as a moral and civic duty. Just like in the '60's. This is one of the drawbacks to using Delta Minuses as guardians and protectors. Their inflexible mindset can't comprehend a higher morality.
West Virginia governments, state and local, like most in the United States, are run by the Chambers of Commerce. When looking to make change, actions must be directed at the points of vulnerability.
Mao said, correctly, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." But, that is only one form of power. And, even that is controlled. In this country, the gun barrels are controlled by the economic forces. Applicably, Chambers of Commerce.
West Virginia depends greatly on tourism.
West Virginia depends greatly on coal sales.
And, a bit of research will show other sources of commercial income and tax revenues.
Each income source is more or less reachable.
Some "reach" is direct. Choices about spending money on everything from recreation to restaurants will make a difference. If you have to drive through West Virginia, fill your gas tank before crossing in. Get a take-out meal before entering.
And, the coal! Where does the coal for your electric power plants come from? Are your legislators accepting money from the coal industry?
Go to one of the anti-mountain-top-removal internet sites and make a statement about what money you kept out of the local cash registers. In these economic times, every penny will be missed by the members of the Chambers of Commerce.
Marooned,
Enter West Virginia from where? Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky… not a state on there that doesn’t have its own corrupt reactionaries, and as everywhere, those are the floaters who tend to rise to power. Most are coal states, some were responsible for thrown presidential elections and/or electing radical right wingers at every level and for every office that exists.
They also have lots of hardworking progressives, sometimes traditions going back generations, of coal miners and families who fought the coal owners and the others and sometimes died doing it. If you’re going to boycott something it’s a good idea to make sure what you replace it with isn’t as bad or worse.
A better solution: don't drive through anywhere. get rid of your car. walk, bike, take the train. Don't buy your food anywhere; either grow your own or trade for it with someone you know. And make connections with the people doing good everywhere. Start with the progressive community in Morgantown.