[V]ermont State Police are investigating a “chilling” anti-Semitic voicemail left for an official whose company is seeking to build a large-scale wind farm in southern Vermont.
The anonymous message, left on voicemail at the office of a representative of Iberdrola Renewables, contains veiled threats.
Company officials requested the name and position of the employee, who is Jewish, not be released, and he declined to be interviewed. Additional security for Iberdrola workers is being considered.
A female caller left the 1-minute voicemail on Oct. 27, shortly after the conclusion of a public meeting in Windham about Iberdrola’s proposed 28-turbine wind project, which if built, would be the largest in the state.
In a calm, self-possessed voice, the woman identifies the Iberdrola representative by name and says:
“You ______ are a Jew and you cannot wait to drive 28 stakes through a town full of free, white Christian men with guns, and unfortunately the way to attract free, white Christian men with guns to you is to try and take their homes.”
“So, why don’t you go to Palestine ______ where you can shoot the feet of Palestinian soccer players, you can burn babies alive, you can rape Russian sex slaves and really overtly enjoy yourself rather than this covert activity in Vermont where you think no one knows you’re a Jew because you’re going to find out that they do. Bye-bye.”
The Iberdrola representative listened to the message when he returned to his office to Wells, Maine, on Oct. 30. That day, he reported it to the Wells Police Department, which found that the message did not meet the criminal standard of a threat because the woman did not threaten him with bodily harm. Nor did it rise to the level of a hate crime, according to Lt. Jerry Congdon of the Wells Police Department, because there was no crime of assault associated with the anti-Semitic remarks. The caller ID was blocked and police were not able to identify who left the phone message, Congdon said.
Subsequently, Mark Epstein, an attorney for Iberdrola Renewables, filed a complaint with Vermont State Police on Nov. 10, according to Scott Waterman, public information officer for the state police. Sgt. Mike Sorenson is conducting an active, ongoing investigation into the “threatening incident,” according to Waterman. Iberdrola has offices in Maine and Vermont.
Art Sasse, the director of communications and brand for Iberdrola Renewables, said the company is concerned about the representative’s safety and has asked that his name not be released to the public.
Sasse described the voicemail as “ominous, chilling and frightening.”
Employees for the international energy company, which has developed 60 commercial wind and solar projects in 19 states, have never before been subject to anti-Semitic harassment of this nature, Sasse said. “When our chain of command heard the voicemail, they were mortified,” he said. “It’s hard to believe anyone would receive an office voicemail like that.”
Iberdrola may increase security for employees working in Vermont as a result of the incident, Sasse said, and “going forward, we are ensuring that both our staff and the public are able to openly express their opinions about the potential project in public, without fear of harm.”
Liisa Kissel, an opponent of the Iberdrola project in Grafton, said she was disappointed, shocked and appalled by the “dreadful” message left by the anonymous caller.
“There’s no excuse,” Kissel said for making that kind of threat to anyone. She said she had no idea “who might be behind this.”
“I’m very involved in the opposition, and we work in a respectful manner and treat everyone the same, and we are not afraid to express our opinions, which is better for the community. We would never do anything underhanded like that,” Kissel said.
The large-scale wind project has “brought out the worst” in some people, Kissel said.
“It has had the effect of dividing the community with big promises of money, which colors people’s views and behaviors which is not good,” Kissel said.
Kissel says there are strong feelings on all sides of the issue, and she herself has been harassed over the past four years, since she began organizing opposition to the windfarm.
She said she received an threatening anonymous letter; someone stuck a pro-wind bumper sticker on her truck; and air was emptied out of one of the tires. Kissel did not report any of the incidents to the police because they were minor and “haven’t bothered me that much.”
Editor’s note: Iberdrola provided the voicemail to VTDigger. The recording was edited to remove the name of the employee.
