Virginia State Police responded to a small group of protesters on a makeshift helipad near a Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in Montgomery County at 5:37 a.m. on Thursday.
Arriving on scene, troopers located an individual who had attached herself to the rear skid arm of an unoccupied helicopter sitting atop the makeshift helipad. A second individual was standing on the helipad next to the private aircraft.
Using a “sleeping dragon” steal pipe device, Julie D. Dreamer, 50, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, had attached herself to the aircraft next to its jet fuel vent. At first, she refused to comply with the troopers’ repeated commands to free herself from the device. By 7:30 a.m., Dreamer voluntarily surrendered and released herself from the device and aircraft. Dreamer was charged with Interfering with the Property Rights of Another. She was denied bond and is being held at the Montgomery County Jail.
The individual standing on the makeshift helipad, Jordan Mays, 22, of Columbus, Ohio, was cited for obstructing the free passage of others. He was also denied bond and is being held at the Montgomery County Jail.
The handful of other protesters dispersed shortly after 8 a.m.
