Published: March 19, 2007 10:40 pm         

Photographer claims Capitol, State Police used ‘abusive force’ at protest

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.

Paul Corbit Brown, a professional photographer who was at the capitol as “a concerned citizen” in opposition to Massey Energy’s plan to build another coal silo near Marsh Fork Elementary, snapped photographs as State Police used what he described as excessive force on Hillary Anne Hosta, who was arrested for allegedly refusing orders to clear a “safe area” in the back of a reception area leading to the governor’s office.

The photographs are blurred because officers also tried to pull Brown away from the area, he said. His flash attachment was disconnected from his camera as he attempted to stay only a few feet away from Hosta.

“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.

“They weren’t violent, they just wouldn’t comply,” he said.

He and Deputy Cabinet Secretary Christy Morris said officers followed protocol and were aware several of the protesters were videotaping them.

“I certainly did not see anything that could be perceived as excessive,” Mayhew said. “These people were handcuffed and carried through and across the floor by their arms out of the area, whatever it took physically to remove them from the reception room.”

When a person refused to leave the area as instructed, police had no choice but to arrest them for obstructing, he said. Others who were in the reception room, but outside the safety zone were told they were welcome to stay there until the room closed at 5 p.m.

“Everything was handled professionally,” Mayhew said.

Morris added that security is always a concern in the reception area, which a person can enter without going through any metal detectors.

“You don’t know who people are. You don’t know what could constitute a threat to the governor,” she said.

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About 50 protesters — some from the southern coalfields and others from in- and out-of-state universities — arrived at the Capitol about 10:30 a.m. Friday in a continuing effort to remove students from what they say is a dangerous location, about 400 yards downhill from a 2.8-billion gallon coal sludge dam, which contains toxins. Friday’s effort was refueled by last week’s state Surface Mine Board ruling to reverse the rejection of a DEP permit for a second storage silo at the Goals Coal preparation plant, which is just above the school. Goals in a subsidiary of Massey Energy.

Though Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy Chief Executive Officer Don Blankenship has said the second silo would help the company make environmental improvements and cut down the amount of coal dust at the site, the protesters believe the company should focus its resources on moving the school out of what they say is harm’s way.

“A simple tax of one penny per ton of coal would generate enough money in a single year to build an elementary school the entire state could be proud of,” Brown said. “The coal industry is responsible for this threat; it is the coal industry that should pay for the new school. The citizens of Raleigh County should not be penalized any further for the actions of an irresponsible corporation or industry.”

Brown photographed an environmental disaster at Inez, Ky., in 2000, when a slurry impoundment broke and dumped several feet of toxic sludge on two communities. The spill contaminated drinking water. He says he does not want to see the same thing happen to Marsh Fork Elementary School. That’s why, on Friday, he and the rest of the group moved from the Capitol rotunda toward the reception area.

“That reception area belongs to the people of this state,” he said. “All we needed was for Joe Manchin to come out and talk to us.”

But Manchin did not.

“To deny them the right to be heard was unconstitutional,” Brown said. “We were vocal, but we were not violent.”

In response to an hour’s worth of protest songs and chants, Manchin Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Martin read a statement from the governor to the crowd saying Manchin would encourage the Raleigh County School Board to put the decision of building a new school at Marsh Fork to a countywide vote and that the decision is not one for the governor to make.

Brown said the group was not told of any “safe zone” or asked to leave it until the close of that statement.

“Immediately after that, police moved in,” Brown said.

Mayhew, however, said the group was given time — “minutes” — to clear the safe zone at the close of the statement. Some sat instead of moving.

“They refused to leave until they talked to the governor,” Mayhew said.

It was not clear if Hosta was among the sitters, but Brown said she was already on the ground by the time he noticed the police gathered around her. Before that, he had devoted his attention to an elderly woman in a wheelchair that police moved out of their way.

Brown said he believes the arrest situation could have been averted had Manchin stepped out of his office and spoken with them.

“What has happened to our government that they forgot ‘government of, for, and by the people’? The people of this state need to be the primary business of the governor’s office,” he said.

“Our constitution has been violated by these actions. We have the right to peacefully assemble,” he added.

Brown, who was not among 12 who were arrested, also said constitutional rights were violated when arrested protesters were released with the stipulation that they are not allowed to return to the Capitol for protesting.

“Do we no longer have the right to question our leaders?” Brown asked.

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