FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Larry Gibson Daniel Chiotos (304)542-1134 Danny@seac.org JULY 4TH MUSIC FESTIVAL DISRUPTED BY ANGRY MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL SUPPORTERS The Mountain Keepers Music Festival on Kayford Mountain ran from July 3rd to July 5 but the family gathering was disrupted on the evening of July Fourth by a crowd of drunk and angry mountaintop removal supporters. This crowd of angry people in miner’s stripes put their threats into action on the evening of July Fourth by threatening seniors, toddlers, and other individuals who were peacefully enjoying the Festival. The festival brought together hundreds of people to celebrate the struggle for Appalachia, its people and our mountains in a weekend of fellowship. There were more than 100 festival goers present at the time of the disruption by the crowd of 20 drunken crowd of mountaintop removal supporters. Many of the fuming crowd charged into the festival shouting obscenities, threatening families, and attempting to intimidate the festival. One of the drunkest mountaintop removal supporters removed his shirt and threatened to slit the throat of a mother and her baby. "We call upon Governor Manchin to take action and immediately stop the threats and harassment now. This is the second time that we have asked the coal companies and our government to tone it down. Because of their inaction, these thugs must think this is the Wild West. Massey Energy and other coal companies need to calm their employees down. This behavior makes all miners look bad," says Judy Bonds of Coal River Mountain Watch. “Not all of the mountaintop removal supporters exhibited such vile and immature behavior. Some ran interference and even kicked the worst of them off the mountain,” festival goer Jen Osha said. This threatening act is a part of a campaign of intimidation where mountaintop removal supporters repeatedly shout obscenities and threaten violence. The June 23rd Protest at Marsh Fork Elementary saw hundreds of mountaintop removal supporters shout obscenities at families and saw one peaceful protester slapped in the face by a woman in miner’s stripes. The week leading up to the Mountain Keepers Festival saw repeated threats of violence to the festival. “Out of the twenty people who disrupted our event, only two were actually miners. Other than that they were just people who wanted to interrupt a peaceful gathering to try and cause violence. I’m glad they didn’t succeed,” says Larry Gibson of Kayford Mountain. “The only thing they did was to make the miners of West Virginia look bad, I’m confident that real miners would not have come up with such an irresponsible action.”