|
Protesters Block Entrance to DEP Headquarters
DEP: Enforce the Clean Water Act
Click the image above to get your copy of Dragline! Suggested $25 donation.
Aug. 29th. Jacqueline witnessed a male Corrections Officer (CO) brutally attack a pregnant prisoner, unprovoked. The following is an account of the brutality as given by Jacqueline.
While being transported to church on Sunday, the female prisoner had stopped to make sure another inmate was making it out of the pod for church. While she was restrained with handcuffs for transport, a male CO slammed her head into the wall. She was then lifted off the ground, over the man’s head and thrown to the floor, where she was beaten some more. The woman that was attacked was still in the Medical Ward as of 10:00 p.m. The other prisoners have filed grievances against the CO, but have received no word of the victim’s medical condition. They fear she may lose her baby. At this point the prisoners of pods A-7 and A-8, Jacqueline’s pod and the victim’s pod, are refusing all contact with male COs.
We at Climate Ground Zero call for an immediate investigation by the Kanawha County Prosecutor and all other relevant governmental agencies, and for charges to be filed against not only the perpetrator, but also any other jail employees who stood by and did nothing. The charges should also reflect that the CO not only beat an inmate, but her unborn child as well.
| 2010-08-26 14:01:21 | Joe Hamsher has been released from jail after posting bond. He is on his way home. Sarah remains in the South Central Regional Jail. |
| 2010-08-26 11:22:11 | Sarah and Joe have been arrested and charged with trespassing, obstruction and interference with a government process. They are being held at $5000 bail at the South Central Regional Jail. |
| 2010-07-15 10:56:32 | Colin & Katie are being held at $2500 bail w/ bond option. They're charged with trespassing b, misdemeanor conspiracy, and obstructing police activity. Sophie & Jimmy also have those charges, alongside a fourth charge of littering. They are being held at 3500 w/ bond option. All have called and are doing ok! |
| 2010-07-14 21:53:41 | Colin and Katie have been arrested and are in State Police custody. They seem to be doing fine. They stopped the highwall miner for four hours. |
Joe Hamsher and Sarah Seeds, activists with Climate Ground Zero, were arrested this morning while blocking the entrance to the headquarters of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). They have been charged with trespassing, obstruction of justice and disrupting government processes. Their bail was set at $5000 dollars each. Hamsher has posted bail. [...]
CHARLESTON, W.V. — Protesters associated with Climate Ground Zero blocked the entrance to the headquarters of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today. Joe Hamsher, 23, and Sarah Seeds, 60, are chained to a concrete-filled metal barrel that is blocking the entrance to the parking lot of the DEP office complex in Charleston. [...]
Anti-mountain removal activists Grace Williams and Tom Smyth appeared separately in Raleigh Co. Magistrate Court for actions against mountaintop removal and particularly against surface mining on Coal River Mountain.
Grace Williams was charged with trespassing, obstruction, conspiracy and littering for supporting activists that shut down a drill rig on Coal River Mountain last November. Williams agreed today to plead guilty to trespassing and obstruction and was sentenced to 6 months unsupervised probation with a 30 day suspended sentence and $55 in fines, with consideration for time served by Magistrate Jones. Charges against her fellow support person, Laura von Dohlen are unresolved pending appeal to the Raleigh County Circuit Court.
Tom Smyth appeared in front of Magistrate Humphreys for the first time on charges of trespassing, obstruction and conspiracy. Smyth was arrested attempting to deliver a Citizen’s Arrest Warrant for Chris Blanchard, President of Massey Energy subsidiary Marfork Coal. Smyth and 2 others locked down inside Marfork main office in Pettus, W.Va., demanding a halt to blasting on Coal River Mountain. Smyth spent two weeks in jail before posting a $5,000 bond. Raleigh County Prosecutors offered Smyth an additional 16 days in jail for a total of 30 days, which Smyth rejected. His bench trial date has not been set. Fellow activist Joseph Hamsher was able to plea bargain for just 8 days time served. The third activist, Mike Roselle, is awaiting his jury trial on October 20th.
Jacqueline Quimby sends her love and support to everyone from the South Central Regional Jail where she is serving a 60-day sentence. She is standing strong and deeply appreciates all the letters and support. She is trying to write everyone back, but has a limited number of stamps and envelopes. You can send stamped envelopes in with your letters and it will be easier for her to get back to you! Right now, all letters, cards and photos are making it through the mail just fine. MAKE SURE you provide your full name and return address. Mail has often been returned with out it. Books are making it through, but only if they are ordered directly from publisher and sent to her jail address.
Jacqueline urges everyone to keep fighting for the land and the people. She is due to be released in early October.
Hey Folks, our jail bird has a few messages! Jacqueline called this morning and said that she greatly appreciates all of the letters sent, so keep sending them. She also wanted you all to know that she does not yet have stamps or envelopes, so to be aware that she might not be able to [...]
Yesterday, Jacqueline Quimby began serving a 60-day sentence for blocking a haul road to a mountaintop removal mine with seven other activists in Kanawha County last October. Jacqueline chained herself to several others across the width of the road, preventing coal and heavy equipment from being transported for a few hours that morning. She and [...]
