Virginia State Police charge several individuals for various violations that occurred Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, at a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction site in Montgomery County.
According to witnesses, a vehicle traveling in the 3800 block of Bradshaw Rd. stopped in the roadway and two individuals – Carol P. Gibbons, 68, of Ohio, and Eliza J. Lox, 19, of New Jersey – jumped out of the vehicle and, using devices known as “sleeping dragons,” attached themselves to construction vehicles parked about 10-15 yards off the road. This occurred at approximately 6 a.m.
In addition, approximately 20 other activists gathered nearby.
Despite law enforcement’s repeated requests to Gibbons and Lox to remove themselves from the boring machine and excavator, Gibbons and Lox refused to comply. Shortly before 10 a.m., a specially-trained state police extrication team began working to safely remove Gibbons and then Lox from the “sleeping dragon” devices they had used to secure themselves to the construction equipment. Once both women were rescued from the devices, they were checked by Montgomery County Fire and EMS for dehydration and any medical needs.
A “sleeping dragon” is a device commonly used by activists to secure themselves together and/or to an object. The improvised device is typically fashioned out of PVC pipe or metal, in which a person slips their arms into the pipe and then handcuffs their wrists inside. In this instance, one of the protestors utilized a metal pipe reinforced with pieces of rebar.
State police charged Lox with trespassing, obstructing free passage of another, obstruction of justice and conspire to trespass.
Gibbons was charged with trespassing, obstructing free passage of another, obstruction of justice and interfering with property rights.
Additional violations cited against other individuals at the scene include improper stopping in a highway, trespassing, failure to be in possession a driver’s license, and improper parking.
The scene was clear by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
