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I went to witness the ICE arrests today in South Burlington. Of note, I am someone who generally supported local law enforcement until tonight. However, I witnessed them violate their own policy and Vermont Use of Force law. The law requires police actions to be reasonable, proportional, and first attempt de-escalation techniques.
Protestors did not intervene when ICE dragged two people out of their home and into waiting vehicles. Not just the man they got the warrant for related to the car crash, they also arrested a young woman, and the couple reportedly had very young children. There was a curtain featuring Anna and Elsa from Frozen in one of the windows - a child's bedroom.
Then, protestors linked arms and blocked the vehicles from leaving. At first, Vermont State Police, Burlington Police (including their ERU unit (Emergency Response- their version of SWAT), and South Burlington Police established a perimeter. Then, all of the sudden, the vehicle with the detainees gunned it over the median, turning a 180 and flooring it through the line of protestors behind them in the other lane. It was a major escalation: protesters were pepper sprayed, tear gassed, and tackled literal instants before the car ran through. For reference, everyone including all the local police thought that the ICE car had run over at least two protestors. A South Burlington officer ran over to where Migrant Justice medics were working on people asking how many people had been hit. Not if, how many. I'm still not sure if anyone was fully run over or just sideswiped by that vehicle. If no one was, it was only pure luck, the driver did not hesitate, drove at high speeds directly into people in the roadway, and the situation was reckless, dangerous, and almost unbelievable to witness.
Immediately after, some of the agitated protestors were yelling at police and one was arrested by Burlington PD. While they walked him to a car, a woman who appeared to be with him was running alongside, at least 6 feet ahead of them and to the side, trying to speak to him. I witnessed a Burlington PD officer (EDIT: from video posted on this sub, Burlington Police Officer Gonzalez) run up to her from the side, swing her, and violently slam her to the ground without warning. It was totally unnecessary: she was a good distance away, ahead of where he was walking, not interfering with the arrest whatsoever, and also was around 100lbs soaking wet, he could have grabbed and moved her easily if it was even necessary. She was never warned to move, and this did not occur in a crowd but with a great deal of space down the road from the main group. Instead of any alternative, he angrily used some tackle maneuver to throw her to the ground, her body and head hit hard. Other Burlington officers witnessed it and clearly knew it was another use of force violation because another officer immediately went to that officer and told him to leave and go get into the car. If anyone got video of this, please share it publicly, this action was a major use of force violation by Burlington Police.
VIDEO DESCRIPTION: After quite some time after the ICE vehicle with the detainees left, protestors surrounded the remaining ICE vehicle, which I heard had a flat tire. I was standing to the side, out of the roadway, peacefully witnessing. I expected they would establish a perimeter and arrest the few people who didn't comply. Instead, all of the sudden, Vermont State Police officers ran up without warning or giving any direction or opportunity to leave. There was no opportunity for de-escalation (for reference, watch the live WCAX footage for the suddenness of the attack. They sprayed chemical agents and deployed flash bangs and other forms of force. 3-4 protestors fell backwards and laid directly in front of the oncoming vehicle. It did not stop until one of the officers repeatedly screamed for it to stop, while at the same time pepper spraying right into their faces. Flash bangs were deployed too. Something hit me hard, and I have a bruise, I believe possibly from a rubber bullet.
At this point while all of this was happening I started my video and saw one of the protestors in the red/orange coat army crawling trying to get away. The video tilts to the ground as I stepped into the roadway to grab his arm and help him up to be carried out by someone else, I call out "let him be" as I saw an officer approaching to try to spray him again. Then I saw the vehicle continuing to move forward while at least one person was still in the way (left wheel well). I and others stepped forward screaming to try to get the car to stop. At this point I genuinely believed ICE was going to run someone over as they came so close to doing earlier.
As they clear the vehicle, you can tell I and others moved back out of the roadway. I was entirely out of the road, trying to deescalate protestors near me to keep them out of the road and hopefully bring down the heat of the situation. You hear me calling to stay calm, and that we are not a threat. You see Vermont State Police still deploying flash bangs and chemical agents, right at me, while I had both hands up and told them I was not a threat.
EDIT 10:16 PM: I'm now hearing that perhaps the officers in the video were likely Border Patrol, not Vermont State Police. That is possible, they are both in green fatigues and it was getting dark, so I could have misidentified. If that is the case, though, it was with the explicit knowledge of Vermont State police and local officers, who all had literally just been there. Maybe two minutes before this, Vermont state police had all cleared out - I figured they just went down the road to give space and came back with this escalation. It now sounds to me like State police, knowing that federal officers were coming to provoke using these tactics, left to give themselves plausible deniability - why else would they leave a scene they themselves were controlling? They left a scene that they had been running - that is on them, whether or not they deployed these measures themselves. Most generous interpretation: they are sending out statements claiming to be there to protect protestors, but knowingly left moments before federal agents deployed this violence against Vermonters. Thanks for all that protection, State Police.
There were many strategies and tactics for Vermont State Police, federal agents, and the local police agencies to utilize that did not recklessly endanger lives with moving vehicles. In the case of this video, with their manpower they could have established a perimeter, warned protestors to move back or risk arrest, and then dealt with the few remaining. Most people gathered were out of the roadway and were obviously not a threat. Many were media, such as the WCAX reporter. Law enforcement did not need to use chemical agents. Nor did they need to assist ICE drivers from coming close to killing multiple Vermonters earlier in the day. Vermont State Police also violated their policy with many wearing facial coverings and not identifying themselves. Typically, an first tier response for police is to use time to de-escalate and resolve a standoff: police throughout this situation could have used their established perimeters and waited for most of the protestors to get tired and leave. The Burlington ERU could have opened channels of communication with leaders from Migrant Justice to direct and redirect to peaceful forms of protest. Law enforcement did not need to use the excessive forced utilized tonight.
Therefore, it is not possible to reasonable believe any statement on behalf of the police that they were there to ensure peaceful protest or protect citizens. They acted recklessly and with wanton aggression. Burlington Police and Vermont State Police violated Vermont's Use of Force Law multiple times. Their actions were not objectively reasonable, were not proportional to the situation, and endangered citizens' lives.
If you or someone you know have additional video of these events, please bring it forward and to the light. I call on Vermont legislators and governor to hold them accountable for the volatile, dangerous, and egregious breach of law witnessed tonight, and am heartsick and sad to do so. I genuinely thought they, and we, were better than this.
Vermonters, now more than ever it is time to speak up for justice in our community.
This was what came to mind.
Vicious (2013)