I met this guy, Chris Dodson, today. Please take a moment to read his story, here... He is a peaceful, loving guy. What has happened to him is totally uncalled for:
National Coal Company (NCC) is a new corporation currently engaging in MTR
in Tennessee, and having bought and continuing to buy permits for
continued mining through out the entire coal bearing part of the state. On
June 7th I travelled from WV to support my friends in Tennessee's efforts
to stop this company from moving in.
About thirty of us paid a visit to NCC's first ever share-holders meeting
at a holiday inn in west knoxville. Our intent was to march into the
hallway and drum and chant with a few breaks in the music for individuals
to make statements about surface mining in TN.
I was at the back of the group as marched in, so i didn't realize this had
happened until sometime later, but apparently two of our people, against
our declared mission, pushed their way into the conference room and were
consequently assaulted by a police officer who was gaurding the meeting
and a coal company exec. a brief struggle ensued including the cop and
coal exec putting these people in submission holds and choke-holds before
they were forced out of the doorway and it was closed with the cop
standing outside, facing all of us.
We continued to drum and chant (bear in mind i didn't know that the
struggle had happened) for maybe twenty minutes. During that time i made
my way to the front of the crowd where i stood and drummed and chanted for
the remainder of the action. you can see a picture on the MJS website of
me holding a fifty-gallon barrel lid with "NO MTR" written on it.
(actually, you can't see me because my head is behind the lid) this was my
action.
after a while we were asked to leave and we went outside and reassembled.
as we were standing there, the first activist was arrested while
attempting to talk with the police. then we were asked to leave
altogether and we began to. as i was walking off of the hotel property, i
was g! rabbed from behind and arrested. (i asked the officer why i was being arrested and he said, "because i want to")
some time later police traveled to a strip mall parking lot across the
street where one action-participant was getting into his car to go home.
he was arrested at that time and three of us were taken to jail.
our arresting officer didn't sign our warrants for about ten hours after
our arrests, forcing us to stay incarcerated for an unneccesary long-time.
the evening of my arrest at about ten o'clock we went before the
magistrate. having though that we were being charged with disorderly
conduct or something similar, we discovered at this time that our charges
were much more serious. i am charged with aggravted assault, aggravated
riotting, burglary and disrupting a public meeting or procession.
We spent two and a half days in maximum security on 23 hour lock-down
before our friends could raise the exorbitant amount of money nrequired
for bail.
we have video footage, still photos, witnesses and a history of
non-violence on our side. we're going to be o.k. these charges are
completely ridiculous and false and we have more than enough evidence to
prove it.
of course, this is a stressfull time for my family and myself (my family
moreso than myself) and thsuly prayer is thing number one. i do ask that
anyone who has any practice of focused energy, whether it be prayer or
otherwise, keep this situation in mind.
thing number two is activate. Mountain Top Removal is destroying
appalachia. it kills all life in the earth's most biologically diverse
temperate forest. it displaces communities and threatens those that cannot
afford to leave with flash floods and mudslides off of the barren
mine-sites. overwieght coal trucks have killed fifty people in the last
four years. it is industry standard to overload the trucks, this is not a
problem of "bad drivers". it's a matter of "oh you won't let us overlo! ad
your truck? well you're fired! we can find someone who will let us
overload the truck." MTR is destroying what makes life possible and
desirable in appalachia. the spiritual sanctity of these mountains is
destroyed. people's lives are destroyed. the earth is raped. and it is all
for the profit of a very few.
this must stop and we must stop it. one of the greatest things that
happens when an activist goes to jail, is that people who know that
activst, or know someone who knows that activist, wake up and join the
fight, having seen how important and injust the situation. join the fight!
thing number three is money. legal defense is a long process and it costs
dollars. we need money. checks should be made out to mountain justice
summer with "legal defense" in the memo line and mailed to
p.o. box 86
Naoma WV 25140.
