The Arrests from Hunter on Vimeo.
Vermonters for a Clean Environment released new video last night of the Dec. 5 arrest of six protesters, as well as journalist Chris Braithwaite of the Barton Chronicle, who was covering the recent standoff on Lowell Mountain. The video shows the orderly and nonviolent arrest of six activists (including the videographer) who stood in the middle of the Lowell Mountain clearcut wearing shirts that read, “Ridges aren’t renewable” and “Once it’s destroyed, it can’t be put back.” As construction vehicles roll by, an Orleans County Sheriff’s deputy, backed up by a Vermont State Police trooper, explains to the activists how they’ll be detained and transported off the mountain.
Unfortunately, the activist’s video camera couldn’t capture the audio of Braithwaite’s confrontation with Orleans County deputy Phil Brooks. But the 67-year-old founder, co-owner and publisher of the Chronicle spoke to Seven Days shortly after his release on Monday to explain what transpired.
“I did what I’ve always done up there, which is cover any protests and gone wherever the protesters go,” Braithwaite says. “So, in this case, they were in the middle of the crane path, and so was I.”
This article appears in Dec 7-13, 2011.
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Please note the Burlington occupiers were not their to help out. Must be their is nobody in the kingdom with the power of Mayor Kiss to have stopped these arrests. Oh wait a minute, maybe Doug Nelson can set them free, after all he had the power to twist the legislators private parts so tight, and run Vermont around in circles for over 12 months, he could get them released.
The situation is a bit more nuanced, especially if you’re color blind or don’t understand there is both a pink tape and an orange tape. Chris did leave on his own, he got off the crane path (which is on land that the Nelsons claim they own, and the issue is in court) and went and got behind the orange (not pink) tape that demarcates the limit of disturbance. He was completely out of the path of GMP’s equipment and there were no safety issues, he was out of harm’s way. However, the cops wanted him to get behind the pink tape (yes, there is another line) that demarcates the property line that GMP claims is correct. That pink line is off in the woods). From behind the pink line, Chris would not have heard or seen what was going on. Chris did what was necessary to be sure he was safe and to separate himself from the protesters, but that wasn’t good enough for the cops, they wanted him back another 100 feet or more and back in the woods.