June 24, 2009
Goldman Prize Award Winner Attacked During Rally
Ken Hechler, Daryl Hannah Arrested
From Mountain Justice/AlterNet Releases, and Staff Reports
Naoma, WV (HNN) – Ken Hechler, 94, the former West Virginia Congressman who wrote “The Bridge at Remagen,” which was made into a film in 1969, joined activist actress, Darryl Hannah, known for her breakthrough role in “Spash” and most recently the “Kill Bill” series in a would-be peaceful protest Tuesday, June 23, 2009 against mountain top removal. Both were among 32 arrested for trespassing.
However, reports from the area in Raleigh County, now indicate that during the rally in front of the Massey Energy coal property, Coal River Mountain Water co-director Judy Bonds was reportedly assaulted by a Massey supporter. While Bonds was engaged in a nonviolent protest, the Massey supporter lunged from the line without any provocation and roughly slapped Bonds on the head, ear and jaw. The Massey supporter also attempted an attack on another demonstrator, Lorelei Scarbro, a coal miner’s widow and local community organizer. The Massey supporter was immediately apprehended by the police and charged with battery.
The crowd included dozens of Mountain Justice participants who have been active in similar protests since 2005, including getting arrested at the same site.
Hannah wrote on her website http://dhlovelife.com that “Mountaintop removal, the world's worst strip mining, is unacceptable. Period. Blowing the tops off of mountain ranges to harvest dirty coal harms the people and places of Appalachia, destroys the economic potential of the Appalachian mountains for clean energy opportunities and furthers the burning of climate killing coal.
“Mining companies are clear cutting thousands of acres of some of the world's most biologically diverse forests. They're filling local rivers and streams with blasted debris, poisoning drinking water with toxic waste, increasing the risk of flooding and sacrificing the safety of countless communities. This destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020.”
"By sacrificing the Appalachia's mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine the investments in 21st Century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs and preserve our natural resources,” the actress wrote.
Hechler, the legendary West Virginia congressman and WV secretary of state and coal miner hero who has been battling mountaintop removal since 1971, was arrested in the non-violent protest with NASA’s celebrated climate scientist James Hansen, Michael Brune, the executive director of Rainforest Action Network, and Goldman Prize winner Judy Bonds, and Ms. Hannah. Vietnam veteran Bo Webb, and dozens of other coalfield residents were arrested for crossing onto the property of leading mountaintop removal coal mining company, Massey Energy – purposely trespassing to protest the destruction of mountains immediately above the Coal River Valley community.
In the face of recent Obama administration actions to regulate and not abolish mountaintop removal -- which has wiped out 500 mountains and destroyed historic communities -- the action launched a yearlong national campaign to bring mountaintop removal to an end.
Hansen released the following statement on his ran.org site: “I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen. Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished.”
In an interview posted on Huffington Post last month, Hechler made a special appeal to President Barack Obama to stand by his word and end mountaintop removal.
As a massive turnout of state troopers and hundreds of protesters poured into the Coal River Valley for the historic nonviolent direct action and march, a 2.8 billion gallon toxic coal sludge impoundment behind the earthen Shumate Dam hovers just a couple of football fields above the Marsh Fork Elementary School, while massive mountaintop removal blasts boom daily within a few feet, and where hundreds of concerned parents, families and citizens from around the country have gathered to call to an end to mountaintop removal–for the sake of the children, the coalfield communities, and the Appalachian mountains.
No word has yet been provided concerning the amount of their bonds and whether they have been released from jail.
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Goldman Prize Award Winner Attacked During Rally
Ken Hechler, Daryl Hannah Arrested
From Mountain Justice/AlterNet Releases, and Staff Reports
Naoma, WV (HNN) – Ken Hechler, 94, the former West Virginia Congressman who wrote “The Bridge at Remagen,” which was made into a film in 1969, joined activist actress, Darryl Hannah, known for her breakthrough role in “Spash” and most recently the “Kill Bill” series in a would-be peaceful protest Tuesday, June 23, 2009 against mountain top removal. Both were among 32 arrested for trespassing.
However, reports from the area in Raleigh County, now indicate that during the rally in front of the Massey Energy coal property, Coal River Mountain Water co-director Judy Bonds was reportedly assaulted by a Massey supporter. While Bonds was engaged in a nonviolent protest, the Massey supporter lunged from the line without any provocation and roughly slapped Bonds on the head, ear and jaw. The Massey supporter also attempted an attack on another demonstrator, Lorelei Scarbro, a coal miner’s widow and local community organizer. The Massey supporter was immediately apprehended by the police and charged with battery.
The crowd included dozens of Mountain Justice participants who have been active in similar protests since 2005, including getting arrested at the same site.
Hannah wrote on her website http://dhlovelife.com that “Mountaintop removal, the world's worst strip mining, is unacceptable. Period. Blowing the tops off of mountain ranges to harvest dirty coal harms the people and places of Appalachia, destroys the economic potential of the Appalachian mountains for clean energy opportunities and furthers the burning of climate killing coal.
“Mining companies are clear cutting thousands of acres of some of the world's most biologically diverse forests. They're filling local rivers and streams with blasted debris, poisoning drinking water with toxic waste, increasing the risk of flooding and sacrificing the safety of countless communities. This destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of land by 2020.”
"By sacrificing the Appalachia's mountains for the country's coal addiction, we undermine the investments in 21st Century clean energy solutions that will protect our planet, produce more jobs and preserve our natural resources,” the actress wrote.
Hechler, the legendary West Virginia congressman and WV secretary of state and coal miner hero who has been battling mountaintop removal since 1971, was arrested in the non-violent protest with NASA’s celebrated climate scientist James Hansen, Michael Brune, the executive director of Rainforest Action Network, and Goldman Prize winner Judy Bonds, and Ms. Hannah. Vietnam veteran Bo Webb, and dozens of other coalfield residents were arrested for crossing onto the property of leading mountaintop removal coal mining company, Massey Energy – purposely trespassing to protest the destruction of mountains immediately above the Coal River Valley community.
In the face of recent Obama administration actions to regulate and not abolish mountaintop removal -- which has wiped out 500 mountains and destroyed historic communities -- the action launched a yearlong national campaign to bring mountaintop removal to an end.
Hansen released the following statement on his ran.org site: “I am not a politician; I am a scientist and a citizen. Politicians may have to advocate for halfway measures if they choose. But it is our responsibility to make sure our representatives feel the full force of citizens who speak for what is right, not what is politically expedient. Mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be abolished.”
In an interview posted on Huffington Post last month, Hechler made a special appeal to President Barack Obama to stand by his word and end mountaintop removal.
As a massive turnout of state troopers and hundreds of protesters poured into the Coal River Valley for the historic nonviolent direct action and march, a 2.8 billion gallon toxic coal sludge impoundment behind the earthen Shumate Dam hovers just a couple of football fields above the Marsh Fork Elementary School, while massive mountaintop removal blasts boom daily within a few feet, and where hundreds of concerned parents, families and citizens from around the country have gathered to call to an end to mountaintop removal–for the sake of the children, the coalfield communities, and the Appalachian mountains.
No word has yet been provided concerning the amount of their bonds and whether they have been released from jail.
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