BURLINGTON — Four more F-35 protesters were arrested at Sen. Patrick Leahy’s Burlington office Wednesday night, following the arrest of two demonstrators Monday night.
Kara Paige, Carmen Sargent, Roddy O’Neil Cleary and Rabbi Joshua Chasan were arrested for unlawful trespass after refusing to leave the senator’s office Wednesday evening.
Leahy’s staff had originally locked the group out of the office, but they were let in after O’Neil Cleary promised to leave when the office closed at 5:30 p.m. However, the group refused to leave the office after a lengthy discussion with Leahy state director John Tracy about the merits of the basing.
The arrests follow two earlier ones involving anti-F-35 activists at Leahy’s office Monday as the jets are set to arrive this month. A pro-F-35 group is also taking steps to promote the jets with their arrival imminent.
The F-35 opponents, led by retired Col. Rosanne Greco, has been protesting at Leahy’s office every day this week, armed with a list of demands for Leahy, who has been in Washington.
“This is the tip of the spear of American militarism,” Chasan said Wednesday. “It’s wrong on so many levels.”
The protesters are asking for Leahy to “direct” the Air Force to delay the basing of the jets until a set of conditions are met, which Leahy’s staff have made clear the senator is not going to do.
“I feel Senator Leahy has done what he thinks is best for Vermont, and he knows some people disagree with that,” Tracy said.
Internal Air Force documents show Leahy and his staff had a major role in the basing decision, VTDigger reported in 2018. Leahy has denied playing an outsized role, and Tracy reiterated this during his discussions with the protesters over the past two days.
“He advocated like any senator would,” Tracy said. “To suggest he made the determination is inaccurate.”
The group is demanding the basing be delayed until the F-35 has 1 million flight hours, public hearings are held; funding is secured to purchase all the homes in the “unsuitable for residential use zone”; the Department of Defense provides more information on the F-35’s nuclear role; and there is a full investigation of the basing process.
After Greco and retired Lt. Col. Roger Bourassa were arrested Monday, Leahy’s staff locked the door to the office Tuesday, when Greco returned with Sargent and Paige, both of South Burlington.
Tracy spoke to Sargent and Paige in the hallway before welcoming them into the office when the two agreed to leave when the office closed. Sargent and Paige spoke with Tracy for around an hour before leaving without incident after the office closed on Tuesday.
Sargent and Paige, her daughter, live on Elizabeth Street next to the airport.
“We have real serious concerns about what has happened to our neighborhood and what is going to happen to our neighborhood, not just about the F-35s but that’s the next step in the whole decimation of our community,” Sargent said.
On Wednesday, the door was locked again when Greco, Paige and Sargent returned with O’Neil Cleary and Chasan. Tracy engaged with the group in the hallway before letting them into the office when O’Neil Cleary promised to leave when the office closed.
But the group refused to leave the office after discussing the issue with Tracy until 6:10 p.m. Wednesday. The arrests took place between 7:30 and 8 p.m. Wednesday, Greco said.
A pro-F-35 group also weighed in ahead of the arrival of the jets in coming weeks.
Nicole Citro, the creator of Green Ribbons for the F-35, issued a press release Tuesday referencing the Vermont Air National Guard’s role in patrolling NYC after 9/11.
“As we are just a few days away from welcoming the F-35, the future of the Green Mountain Boys, we are once again looking forward to hearing the comforting sound of jets in the air giving us reassurance we are being protected and that the men and women of the Vermont Air National Guard will be a proud part of this community for many years to come,” Citro said.
