Woman, daughter who protested in trees on planned pipeline land come down

Judge decided on fines, set deadline ordering them to come down

ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – After more than a month sitting in trees protesting the Mountain Valley pipeline, Theresa "Red" Terry and her daughter, Minor, finally came down Saturday.

It happened a day after a federal judge decided on fines and set a deadline, ordering them to come down.

"Walked down the ladder right behind me, knowing that I smelled like I'd been up there a while. That's incredible, and he didn't fall," Terry, 61, said, joking after more than a month making a serious statement.

She and her daughter had been up in trees protesting the construction of the Mountain Valley pipeline since April 2 until a dramatic change of events Friday.

A judge ruled if they didn't come down by Saturday night, they'd face fines of $1,000 a day. And if they stayed past Thursday, U.S. marshals could arrest them using "reasonable force."

Then Saturday, Minor rappelled down from her post into a sea of cheers. Moments later, Fire and Rescue crews brought ladders to help bring down the woman who has captured attention from people across the nation.

"I spent most of the morning crying," Terry said. "I didn't think that I would be able to talk to y'all because I was told that they were coming to cut my trees. And I don't think I want to talk about it anymore."

Terry and Minor said they're both overwhelmed by the amount of support they received from people who traveled hours away to stand with them.

"Since when did someone have the right to give people's property away for profit?" Terry said.

Although they haven't lost their sense of humor, they haven't lost their fight, either.

"We are not done in our fight. We are done in the trees, but we are not done with this fight," Minor said.