Emily Satterwhite
A Blacksburg woman was arrested on two trespassing charges related to her refusal to remove herself from a private construction vehicle working on Brush Mountain in Montgomery County.
Thursday night the Virginia State Police charged Emily Satterwhite, 46, with one misdemeanor count of instigating, etc., such trespass by others; preventing service to persons not forbidden to trespass; and one count entering property of another for purpose of damaging it, etc.
The Virginia State Police responded to Brush Mountain in the Jefferson National Forest on Thursday morning for a report of a female trespassing on the Mountain Valley Pipeline easement.
The woman, later identified as Satterwhite, had affixed herself to the boom of an excavator using a common protest device called a “sleeping dragon.”
State police made repeated attempts over the next 12 hours to communicate with Satterwhite to request her voluntary departure from the vehicle and to offer medical service, food and water. She refused all requests and offers.
Resources were then gathered to ensure the safe removal of Satterwhite from the construction vehicle.
At approximately 7 p.m., two personnel lifts were driven to the scene. The lifts were raised up to Satterwhite’s position on the boom of the excavator.
After about 49 minutes, troopers specially trained in the safe removal of “sleeping dragon” devices were able to free Satterwhite from the boom.
A sleeping dragon is an elbow piece shaped of pipe that protesters chain their hands together in, making them harder to remove from whatever structure they are connected to.
She was safely placed on the lift and then brought to the ground, where she was checked by an on-scene doctor.
