BURLINGTON — Two retired Air Force officers arrested outside Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office last week for protesting the Burlington basing of the F-35 fighter jets have had their cases referred to the restorative justice program.
Retired Col. Rosanne Greco and retired Lt. Col. Roger Bourassa, both of whom have volunteered at the Community Justice Center in the past, said they expect this means they’ll do some community service, though they couldn’t say for sure.
The two found out the their cases had been diverted when they arrived for their scheduled arraignment. Their hearing was set for hours before the first F-35s were scheduled to land at the Burlington International Airport. Greco noted the irony of the timing.
“How ironic that the day that people are going to be over there welcoming a weapon of mass destruction that is designed to harm people in other countries and will harm close to 7,000 Vermonters is a clear indication that we have our priorities very, very wrong,” Greco said.
Greco said she and her fellow protesters were not planning to go to airport to watch the planes land, nor should anyone else.
“I know a lot about military hardware,” Greco said. “I don’t know why you would go to welcome a piece of hardware into your community. Would you want to be there and see that monster coming to town? I don’t want to see it.”
Greco and Bourassa said though they can’t stop the planes from landing today, their fight is far from over. She said she thinks people will be more inspired to act once they actually have to live with the planes, instead of just reading about them.
However, she did worry that Vermonters might be like frogs in boiling water, not noticing the impact of the planes, especially since only two will initially arrive. A total of 20 planes will be coming to Vermont.
Greco said the landing of the first planes marked a sad day for opponents of the plane’s basing.
“I think those of us who have been fighting this — some of us eight years, some of us 10 years — are going to be crushed that this injustice was allowed to happen,” Greco said. “I hope they go out and do something good for somebody. Right? And maybe make up for the immorality that’s about to come and live in our midst.”
Four other protestors who were arrested outside Leahy’s office last week are also set to be arraigned in the coming weeks. It’s unclear if their cases will also be diverted to restorative justice.
