West Virginia: Open an investigation into police misconduct during anti-MTR protest

Petition Background

On Saturday, July 28, my good friend and hero Dustin Steele, along with 19 others, walked on the Hobet strip mine and shut it down in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience.

For standing up to defend his community, Dustin (of Matewan) was beaten by the state police and thrown in jail, with bail set at $25,000. Dustin has been released, but the 19 others, including more victims of police violence, remain in jail.

Police brutality cannot be accepted as a response to nonviolent protests, and allowing unconstitutional bail for acts of nonviolent civil disobedience is not serving justice. U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin is responsible for making sure justice is served in West Virginia. Let's make sure he knows that we expect him to intervene to stop this unacceptable injustice.

"While the state police, in conjunction with the coal companies, tried to break our spirit and our resistance by using violence to quell the fire of our movement, this attempt has failed."
—Dustin Steele