GILES COUNTY, Va. – A Montgomery County man is in custody after attaching himself to a truck in an attempt to delay work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
For about 2.5 hours on Friday, Thomas Adams, the director of the Skyline Soil and Water Conservation District in Montgomery County, was locked to a truck carrying pipe for the pipeline, according to the anti-pipeline group Appalachians Against Pipelines.
“Many will ask: why have I chained myself to [this truck]? I had no choice,” said Adams in a statement posted by the group. “I have committed no crime. I would have committed a crime against humanity had I sat as an idle bystander, letting the greed of political and corporate forces advance.”
Adams was extracted, arrested and not hurt in the process, according to Virginia State Police.
He faces the following charges: abduction, unauthorized use of a vehicle without consent and obstruction of free passage.
Authorities also arrested Molly Graham, 24, of Blacksburg, who police said was the person who forced the MVP construction vehicle to stop in the roadway, so Adams could attach himself to the vehicle’s trailer.
She faces the following charges: abduction, obstruction of free passage and improper stopping on the highway.