At a hearing before state lawmakers Thursday morning, Vermont law enforcement leaders defended their actions during a federal immigration operation in South Burlington last week that turned violent.
Local police have faced scrutiny since the March 11 raid, in which ICE agents broke down the door to a home and detained three immigrants, none of whom were listed on the judicial warrant.
At issue is whether local officers violated a state policy that prohibits them from collaborating with federal immigration authorities in certain instances, and accusations that they used excessive force while engaging with protesters who tried to block entry to the home and later to stop law enforcement vehicles from leaving the scene.
Sitting before lawmakers from the House and Senate judiciary committees in a packed meeting room in the State Capitol, the heads of the Vermont State Police, the South Burlington Police Department, the Burlington Police Department and the Department of Public Safety emphatically defended the actions of their officers, who they said were put in an impossible position.
The leaders testified that their main priority was to protect the public, and that their officers’ presence at the scene likely prevented more violence from befalling Vermonters at the hands of federal agents.
Recounting the day’s events, South Burlington Police Chief Bill Breault said after he arrived at the scene, ICE agents informed him they were working on getting a warrant to enter the home where they believed a man wanted for illegally reentering the country was hiding. Once it was signed, they told him they planned to execute the warrant “by any means necessary,” he said.
Given the large crowd and the impending enforcement action, he felt he had two choices: to remove local law enforcement from the scene, or to call in reinforcements to try to keep protesters separate from federal agents, who he worried would use unnecessary force.
“I was left with no option but to seek assistance from state police, Burlington PD and other agencies,” Breault said. “I’m incredibly grateful for their assistance. There’s no doubt their assistance prevented serious bodily injury and even death.”
Breault said a full review of the incident is still under way, but that at this point he felt confident that “force used by troopers and officers was in response to the actions of those present.”
He and Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke — who joined the hearing via video conference because he’s out of town on vacation — also condemned the actions of some of the protesters, who they said attacked officers and damaged their vehicles.
“As much as we need to ensure we highlight all misconduct by law enforcement, it’s imperative we acknowledge there are some in the crowd whose actions went far beyond peaceful protest or even civil disobedience,” Breault said. “State and local law enforcement executed their public safety mission with incredible restraint and professionalism.”
Burke went further, calling some members of the crowd “violent agitators” whose actions escalated the tensions and led to violence.
“This was not activism,” he said. “It was criminal and cannot be tolerated.”
They also argued that their role did not violate the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, which has been in effect since 2016 and prohibits local officers from collaborating with federal immigration agents in most instances.
Jennifer Morrison, the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, said she was “deeply involved” in developing the policy, and that it was not intended to limit local authority when it comes to maintaining safety at large protests, even if they occur at the site of federal immigration actions.
“The Vermont State police does not enforce federal immigration law,” she said. “However, the Vermont State Police does have a public safety responsibility to respond to protests and other events when the situation may escalate and result in violence.”
When asked by Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth (D/P-Chittenden-Central) if there were any reflections law enforcement leaders could share about what might have gone better, they said there was nothing more to say at this point, but that body camera footage was still under review and a full “after-action” report would be released later on.
Burlington Police Department is investigating one possible use of force violation by an officer, Burke said.
Col. Matthew Birmingham of the Vermont State Police said troopers in tactical gear came to the scene to try to keep federal agents separated from protesters, not to assist in executing the warrant.
“Our presence that day was solely to help maintain public safety while federal agents carried out a court-ordered warrant,” he said.
When asked by Rep. Angela Arsenault (D-Chittenden) to clarify the role state police would play going forward, Birmingham said they would stick to that same tactic.
“You’re correct we are here to protect Vermonters, and that’s what we attempted to do last week,” Birmingham said. “We’ve been aggressively trying to come up with a way to thread the needle on this. The plan is to separate at this point, because if federal law enforcement has legal process and a legal right to do what they’re doing, we can’t stop them.”
“What if they don’t have a legal right to do what they’re doing?” Arsenault pressed.
“That’s a very good question, and I don’t have an answer for you,” Birmingham replied.
As the hearing took place in the Statehouse, Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade, one of the three people detained in the raid, was granted bond by a federal immigration judge at a proceeding in Massachusetts and later released. He would be the second detainee to be freed this week after attorneys for each petitioned the courts for their release on grounds that their detentions were unlawful.
The third detainee, a 20-year-old woman from Ecuador, has a hearing in federal court Friday afternoon.
At a press conference immediately after the hearing, Will Lambek, an organizer with Migrant Justice, called the hearing a “disgrace.”
“Vermonters were just subjected to two hours of misdirection, victim-blaming and, at times, outright fabrication,” he said.
The fair and impartial policing policy was clearly violated in this instance, he said, adding that the policy was drafted with input from immigrant Vermonters to ensure collaboration between federal immigration agents and local police would not occur.
“What is clear from the events of last Wednesday is that state and local law enforcement officers worked hand in glove with federal deportation agents to facilitate the detention of our immigrant neighbors,” Lambek said. “These actions were unacceptable no matter what gloss agents try to put on them post facto.”
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