Anti-mine activists seek brutality investigation

Matewan man says W.Va. State Police beat him

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Environmental activists demanded a federal investigation Thursday into the alleged beating of a mountaintop removal mining protester by the West Virginia State Police.

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Steele, 21, is a Matewan native who now lives in Blair. He and 19 other protesters were arrested Saturday after a demonstration at Patriot Coal's Hobet Mine in Lincoln County.

Steele told The Associated Press that he was dragged across asphalt outside the State Police detachment in Madison, then punched and kicked by several troopers.

Sgt. Michael Baylous said State Police officials have received no complaint from Steele, so they're not doing an internal investigation.

The demonstration was organized by Radical Action for Mountain People's Survival, or RAMPS, which claims that another veteran protester was dragged away from the scene by her hair. A RAMPS spokeswoman said a complaint would be filed on Steele's behalf later Thursday.

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