Arrested Queer Activist Allegedly Beaten by Police in West Virginia

But, alleges Phillips, when Steele -- an outspoken critic of the local coal industry and grandson of a coal miner -- was arrested and taken to Western Regional Jail near Barboursville, West Virginia, "he was taken to a separate room once he was processed and beaten by several police officers. In the limited communication RAMPS has received from him, Dustin has said that he has severe back pain and is having trouble walking."

RAMP is asking that Steele, who is being held on a $25,000 bail for trespassing and obstructing an officer, be moved to a medical facility or released and that an investigation into the alleged beating occur. Phillips is circulating a petion on Change.org aimed at the local legislators as well as police, demanding, "a thorough investigation, commencing immediately and not concluding until the facts of Dustin's case are firmly established, into police violence against those who resist the coal industry in Appalachia. Not only Dustin, but several other activists reported injurious treatment by the police officers who detained and processed them. We fear that this is not an isolated incident, but a systemic pattern in the justice system of West Virginia, which seems to throw the book at nonviolent demonstrators against the coal industry but turn a blind eye to those who brutalize and terrorize these brave and noble people."