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Vermont Conversation: What happens when law enforcement is lawless?
https://vtdigger.org/2026/04/29/vermont-conversation-what-happens-when-law-enforcement-is-lawless/David Goodman
Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George has called for an independent review of the law enforcement response to protesters during an immigration operation in South Burlington and referred three of those arrested to a restorative justice program.
When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched an immigration raid in South Burlington on March 11, they ran into a wall of resistance. Neighbors linked arms in an attempt to stop the masked agents from entering a house in their effort to arrest and deport a Mexican-born man. Protesters blocked an ICE vehicle and hurled insults and objects.
ICE agents deployed flashbang grenades. Vermont State Police and local police shoved, dragged and even choked some protesters, according to public testimony at the Statehouse. Three occupants of the house who were not named in a warrant were arrested by ICE. Outside, six protesters were arrested -- three by VSP and three by Burlington police.
Resistance did not end on the streets of South Burlington. Last week, Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George announced that she would not charge the protesters who were arrested. She stated that they did not have criminal records and it was not solely protesters who "bear the burden of all the harm caused that day." George also blamed police officers "who agitated, who escalated, and who responded in a way that may be ultimately deemed legal, but was also unacceptable."
George told me that "there were some protesters that absolutely escalated the situation and made things a lot more dangerous than necessary." But she added that after watching the police body camera videos, "there was a lot of behavior on both sides that was not necessary and made the situation a lot more escalated than it needed to be."
. . .
ICE agents deployed flashbang grenades. Vermont State Police and local police shoved, dragged and even choked some protesters, according to public testimony at the Statehouse. Three occupants of the house who were not named in a warrant were arrested by ICE. Outside, six protesters were arrested -- three by VSP and three by Burlington police.
Resistance did not end on the streets of South Burlington. Last week, Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George announced that she would not charge the protesters who were arrested. She stated that they did not have criminal records and it was not solely protesters who "bear the burden of all the harm caused that day." George also blamed police officers "who agitated, who escalated, and who responded in a way that may be ultimately deemed legal, but was also unacceptable."
George told me that "there were some protesters that absolutely escalated the situation and made things a lot more dangerous than necessary." But she added that after watching the police body camera videos, "there was a lot of behavior on both sides that was not necessary and made the situation a lot more escalated than it needed to be."
. . .