Joseph Hamsher, 22, Sentenced to 20 Days in South West Regional Jail for Lockdown at Massey Regional HeadquartersMADISON, W.Va.-Joseph Hamsher, 22, was sentenced to twenty days in South West Regional Jail for his participation in a Sept. 9 road blockade at Boone County’s Massey Energy Regional Headquarters. He went before Magistrate Charles M. Byrneside at 10:15 a.m. on Oct. 27 for a pre-trial hearing and plead guilty to conspiracy and trespassing asked to leave. Three other charges, also misdemeanors, were dropped as part of the plea agreement: destruction of property, failure to obey a lawful command and resisting arrest. Hamsher was the first of four protesters and one independent journalist arrested during the action to receive a pre-trial.
“The disgusting practice of mountaintop removal has to be brought to an end completely, not just more strictly regulated. I took action so that future generations of West Virginians can hunt, fish and have a good time in the mountains,” Hamsher, a native West Virginian and current resident of Rock Creek, Raleigh County, said.
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