Five Vermont protesters who were cited earlier this year while protesting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Williston are facing federal charges under a new rule that targets people who demonstrate at such facilities.
Three of the five — Peter Booth, 58, of Jericho; Henry Prensky, 80, of Burlington; and Sherri Wormser, 57, of Colchester — pleaded not guilty on Thursday to obstructing “the usual use, enjoyment, and access to federal property,” a petty misdemeanor. They face up to 30 days in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if convicted.
The federal courtroom in Burlington was packed with the defendants’ supporters.
The charges stem from several sit-in protests earlier this year at the National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center, an ICE intelligence center housed in a private business complex on Industrial Avenue.
The office has become the site of regular protests as the Trump administration has aggressively ramped up immigration enforcement. The protesters are charged with blocking the entrances to the ICE office and ignoring dispersal orders from Vermont State Police during protests on February 9, May 14 and July 24.
Thursday marked the first time that Vermont protesters arrested at the ICE facility have faced federal charges. And the government appears to be prosecuting them under a new interpretation of federal law that expands the list of prohibited conduct in and around federal buildings.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security proposed the new “regulation” — an official rule that governs how laws are interpreted and enforced — in early 2025, then fast-tracked it due to “the recent increase in civil unrest, targeting of federal law enforcement officials, and destruction of federal property across U.S. jurisdictions,” according to the Federal Register.
The move followed the September 2025 shooting of an ICE transport van in Dallas that killed two detainees, as well as a July 4 demonstration outside an ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas, during which a protester shot and wounded a police officer.
“DHS must immediately address this cascade of violence, which is threatening the lives of federal law enforcement officers and the safety of federal property on a daily basis,” the agency said.
The new rule bypassed the typically required notice period and opportunity for public comment and took effect in November 2025.
“My understanding, from colleagues around the country, is this theory has never seen the light of day,” said Robert Appel, the attorney who is representing the three protesters arraigned on Thursday. He said he believed this was one of the first prosecutions using the new regulation. Appel intends to file a motion to dismiss the charges.
After their hearings on Thursday, the three defendants took turns reading a statement outside the courthouse, where a crowd of about a dozen supporters was gathered. Across the street, a banner that read “Abolish ICE!” had been strung up on a fence.
“Regardless of what happens in the future of our case, we remain committed to immigrants’ rights and the fight to abolish ICE,” they read aloud.
“We know there are many people interested in this case as an example of the federal government suppressing dissent … The purpose of these prosecutions is to intimidate,” they said. “We will not be intimidated.”
Their next hearing has yet to be scheduled. The other two charged, Lexington Kennedy, 22, of New York, N.Y., and Roan Wade, 23, of Red Hook, N.Y., are scheduled to be arraigned on November 19.
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