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Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher arrested again

Posted at 5:05 PM, Jun 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-29 19:05:53-04

SALT LAKE CITY — Environmental activist Tim DeChristopher, who launched a movement in Utah when he sabotaged an oil and gas auction of federal lands near some of the state’s most iconic landmarks, has been arrested again.

Tim DeChristopher lies in a trench as part of a protest in West Roxbury, MA. (Image courtesy Peter Bowden)

Tim DeChristopher lies in a trench as part of a protest in West Roxbury, MA. (Image courtesy Peter Bowden)

According to a post on DeChristopher’s Facebook page, he was arrested alongside dozens of clergy who were protesting a gas pipeline being installed in West Roxbury, Mass. Photos from the demonstration show people lying down in a trench, blocking work from being done on the pipeline.

In a speech DeChristopher gave ahead of the action, he railed against fossil fuels and said it would lead to “mass graves” from those dying of climate driven extreme heat.

DeChristopher became known as “Bidder 70” when he walked into a BLM auction in Salt Lake City in 2008 and drove up the bids of oil and gas parcels of lands in southeastern Utah. His trial and conviction in 2011 triggered protests. DeChristopher was ultimately sentenced to serve two years in federal prison and three years probation.

His probation ended earlier this year.