Sit-in ends with rally; protesters encouraged by supporter turnout

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — After spending three nights on the floor of the governor’s outer office in the Capitol, the 14 mountaintop removal protesters in Frankfort were able to see the support for their cause firsthand.

As the hundreds outside concluded a march in celebration of “I Love Mountains” Day, coming around to the Capitol’s front steps, the few inside were finishing up business.

“We met to the governor’s schedule this morning and they said the governor would schedule a time to hold up his promise to visit eastern Kentucky,” protester Rick Handshoe said. “If he doesn’t, we’ll be back.”

The group of protesters, who dubbed themselves “Kentucky Rising,” gathered inside for one final group hug before going out the Capitol’s front doors into daylight for the first time in three days.

Author Wendell Berry addressed the crowd first, sharing with them the importance of the group’s efforts.

“We do not see this as a symbolic gesture. Instead we are humbled by the fact this can’t be carried out by us or any few of us,” Berry said.

Berry also said that the group’s efforts wouldn’t be considered complete “until this great house can become the home of justice.”

Kentucky Rising discussed the original goals with which they’d entered the Capitol, the primary goal being the cessation of mountaintop removal altogether.

The group met with Gov. Beshear Friday morning, and said he complied to two of their demands. They say one is to visit the mountains of eastern Kentucky that have been decimated by mountaintop removal, and the other demand is an agreement to end violent speech towards those opposed to abusive mining.

Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett said those in opposition of surface mining need to understand that it is necessary.

“We would not be able to mine these particular reserves without the process of surface mining,” Bisset said on Sunday.

State Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence, agreed with Bissett, saying that the opposition was often sensationalistic in describing the effects of surface mining.

“The folks that are against it, through their rhetoric, describe it in a way that it’s not actually being done,” Gooch said Saturday.

Activist and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth member Teri Blanton said she thought that the wake of the protest would offer the best opportunity to end abusive mining, and that supporters of the cause need to hold the government accountable.

“For the first time in 30 years the government is making an effort to stop abusive mining through the Clean Water Act,” Blanton said.

She said two representatives from the EPA have visited eastern Kentucky and seen the damage, yet the governor is turning around and suing them rather than helping the people of the state.

Two legislators spoke as well, including State Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville. Riner visited the group of protesters Saturday afternoon to show his support. He led the group in a prayer and read a selection from Psalms that he said was “of the mountains.”