Two arrested during protest at Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in Montgomery County
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) — Two people were taken into custody during a protest at the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in Montgomery County early Thursday morning.
Virginia State Police said that just after 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 1, authorities were notified of a small protest at a makeshift helipad at the Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in the Elliston area.
Once at the scene, troopers found 50-year-old Julie D. Dreamer, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, locked to the back helicopter with a “sleeping dragon” device. They also located a 22-year-old Jordan Mays, of Clumbis, Ohia standing near the helipad.
Police said at first Dreamer refused to comply with the trooper’s commands to free herself from the device. Ultimately, VSP said after nearly two hours, Dreamer removed herself from the device and the aircraft.
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She was arrested and charged with interfering with the Property Rights of Another. Mays was cited for obstructing the free passage of others along with other protestors.
Dreamer and Mays are both being held at the Montgomery County Jail without bond.
“Without water, there is no life,” stated Mama Julz, aka Julie Dreamer, in a statement from the Appalachians Against Pipelines. “In my culture, the women are the backbone of our society, and right now it’s the women who are standing up in all these frontlines. I keep coming here because this land reminds me of my ancestral lands in the Black Hills, the rivers, the streams, the waterfalls.”
This is the second protest against the Mountain Valley Pipeline within the last three days.
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