An Absolute Outrage

From the Register-Herald report…

A coal silo demonstrator who traveled to the state Capitol Friday in an effort to get a safer school for residents in Marsh Fork says police and security officers used unnecessary force on leaders of a non-violent protest and violated their constitutional rights.

He also took pictures…

Is this peaceful protestor a threat to security? Or an inconvenient truth-teller?

“She was in no way behaving in a threatening manner,” Brown said. “She was simply targeted by the State Police as the leader of the rally and was taken down with excessive and abusive force. She was neither resisting nor bullying the police.”

Brown said five officers held down the small, 30-something woman from Naoma with one officer’s knee on her neck and head while they handcuffed her, then they carried her upside down by her handcuffs and feet while she screamed in pain.

“She was in no way able to resist even had she wanted to,” Brown said.

Deputy Director of Capitol Police Randy Mayhew said none of the protesters demonstrated violence but some of them sat on the ground after they were instructed to clear the small “safe zone” between a trooper’s desk at the back of the reception area and the door that leads into the governor’s office.

This is an absolute outrage. The choice to use abusive force on women and senior citizens at the state capitol will come back to haunt these WV officials.

About JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.