Charges dismissed against Wolf inauguration protesters

• Marie Cusick
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Marie Cusick was the Harrisburg reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania.

Disorderly conduct charges were dismissed Monday against two of the eight protesters arrested for shouting “Ban fracking now!” during Governor Wolf’s inauguration ceremony in January. The remaining six activists had already pleaded guilty and paid $413 each in fines and court costs.

About 200 other protesters obeyed instructions from law enforcement to remain in a grassy area behind the inauguration ceremony’s bleachers. The eight people arrested shouted directly at Wolf from the bleachers.

Activists Maggie Henry and Michael Bagdes-Canning appealed, and the charges were dismissed against them Monday morning because the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office failed to produce any witnesses. The DA’s office was confused about whether it needed to call the Pennsylvania State Police or Capitol Police to testify– the two law enforcement agencies had worked together.

“I’m delighted I don’t have to make out a check to the government for saying, ‘Ban fracking now.'” says Henry, “I felt like I have a Constitutional right to address grievances.”

Henry, a 61-year-old organic farmer from Butler County, says the gas industry has ruined her way of life.

“We tried everything I know of to get in touch with Wolf. We want him to visit the shalefields and see what’s going on, while he’s having his cake and eating it too,” she says, referring to a comment he made after New York banned fracking. “It’s like running into a brick wall.”

Henry says the Pennsylvania State Police were unnecessarily rough when they arrested her. She claims they pushed her to the ground, then threatened to charge her with resisting arrest.

“Capitol Police and [Pennsylvania State Police] are not aware of any formal complaints about the handling of that incident,” says Capitol Police spokesman Troy Thompson.

Protester Michael Bagdes-Canning says he’s tried to “play by the rules” to oppose fracking. He says he’s called the state Department of Environmental Protection, given testimony at public hearings, lobbied legislators, and visited gubernatorial campaign events.

“We’ve tried to make folks in government aware that things are bad,” he says. “Governor Wolf has surrounded himself with folks who worked with Governor Rendell on fracking. He’s hearing from them, but he’s ignoring us.”

Editor's Picks