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Protester arrested for blocking path of Mountain Valley Pipeline

Violet is the seventh person to do so in 2019

Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va.

A protestor has been arrested after blocking the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, according to Appalachians Against Pipelines.

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Around noon on Thursday, Violet, whose last name is unknown, locked herself into her camping spot, blocking the intended path of the pipeline near Elliston in Montgomery County.

State police identify Violet as 22-year-old Evin Tyler Ugur, of Worcester, Massachusetts. 

Police say Ugur had affixed himself to a device buried in the ground using a common protest device called a “sleeping dragon.” 

Ugur blocked the pipeline easement for five hours before being extracted and arrested.

State police made repeated attempts requesting Ugur to voluntarily release himself from the device and offered medical service. He refused all requests.

Police charged Ugur with one misdemeanor count of obstructing the right of passage of another and one misdemeanor count of obstruction of justice.

Ugur has since been released on $2,500 bail.

The spot where Violet locked herself in is not far from where another pipeline protestor, Phillip Flagg, was arrested on July 13.

Violet locked into her campsite about halfway up the hillside. Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a fracked gas pipeline that will span over 300 miles from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia.

Violet is the seventh person in 2019 to be arrested for locking into the path of the pipeline, according to Appalachians Against Pipelines.

Photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines