Four arrested following protest with 8-ft. tall wooden duck that blocked Mountain Valley Pipeline entrance

GILES COUNTY, Va, – Four people have been charged after a protest against the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Giles County Wednesday morning.

At 5:32 a.m., Virginia State Police received calls about a disturbance at the pipeline along Doe Creek Road.

When they arrived at the scene, they found more than a dozen people at the scene with four of them secured to an 8-foot tall wooden duck.

Police said the four were safely removed from the property.

These four people were charged with trespassing, obstructing free passage and interfering with property rights:

• Zachariah Benevento-Zahner, 22, of Harrisonburg, Va.
• Dylan Bremner, 23, of Atlanta, Ga.
• Valerie Hahn, 52, of Richford, N.Y.
• Ethan Hughes, 50, residence unknown

Appalachians Against Pipelines shared photos of the event on its Facebook and provided a quote from one of the four arrested.

“This is a pivotal moment for all of us. It is all of our responsibility to do all that we can to protect what we love. Yes, it takes sacrifice, but it is meaningful to know that I am giving up something of lesser value for something of greater value,” said Hughes.