Gov. Phil Scott said on Monday that the four Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd should be prosecuted, as he also called for protesters in Vermont to keep the peace, and announced the launch of a racial equity task force to explore policies to combat systemic racism.
Hundreds of protesters turned out in Burlington and Montpelier on Saturday as part of nationwide protests and riots sparked by the killing of Floyd. Scott said the anger was justified, and noted that he had joined the Vermont State Police in condemning the police actions.
“Mr Floyd’s death, under their watch, under an officer’s knee, is barbaric and totally inexcusable,” Scott said in remarks at the start of his Monday press conference.
“It’s my belief they should all be charged and tried for murder and held fully accountable,” Scott said, “both the three officers who used force, the the officer who stood by and allowed it to occur.”
“In the greatest country in the world,” Scott continued, “no one should stand for this. No one should make excuses for this. And no one should ignore this.”
The governor noted that many Vermonters are joining in the calls for justice. “And I respect those who are doing so,” he said. “I only ask that you do so peacefully and safely, especially considering the public health crisis we’re facing.”
Health Commissioner Mark Levine briefly noted his concern over the size of the protests in Vermont — the governor is increasing the allowable crowd size from 10 to 25 on Monday — while also noting that many participants were wearing face masks.
Vermont’s public safety commissioner, Michael Schirling, said the incident in Minneapolis “looks like something that if it were happening here we would be investigating and referring for prosecution.”
He added that such action has no place in Vermont’s police force. “If you’re in this job for any other reason than community service with empathy and to provide a requisite level of protection to those who need it, you should be looking elsewhere,” he said. “We’re past the point where this is something we should be discussing.”
Scott was asked about President Donald Trump’s remarks today — after fires burned outside the White House last night — in which he told governors they should “dominate” protesters, adding they would look like “jerks” if rioters were not arrested and jailed “for long periods of time.”
“I don’t think the president’s words are reflective of reality,” Scott said. “I believe that we should be leading by example. And, obviously, there are some situations where you have to use more force. But this wasn’t one of them for us here over the weekend.”
Asked if he thought Trump should address the nation, Scott said: “Well, maybe not with that attitude.”
Scott said events like Floyd’s killing cannot be seen as “an uncomfortable and rare event,” and need to be viewed as part of systemic racism that is “built into our school systems, economic systems and everything in between.”
To that end, the governor announced the creation of a Racial Equity Task Force, which will be charged with looking at the racial disparity in Covid-19 infection and death rates — and what Vermont can do to close the gap.
He said the task force will also evaluate whether Vermont is doing enough to support a racially diverse population, and will review state and federal hate speech laws as part of efforts to “encourage all Vermonters, from a range of racial and ethnic groups, to run and serve in public office at all levels.”
Kiah Morris, who was Vermont’s only black female lawmaker, stepped out of politics in 2018, citing continued racial harassment as a driving factor. She has recently taken a new job as the movement politics director for the liberal advocacy group Rights & Democracy.
Xusana Davis, who was appointed by Scott as Vermont’s first director of racial equity — a position that Morris played a foundational role in creating — also spoke at Monday’s press conference about the importance, in one of the whitest states of America, of everyone accepting their responsibility for stamping out white supremacy.
“I always try to ask people to remember white privilege doesn’t mean that your life isn’t hard. It means that your skin color isn’t one of the things making it harder,” Davis said, noting that she had seen signs at recent protests saying “white silence equals violence.”
“And it’s really important I think for white people to recognize that tacit approval, or rather silence, on the matter of white supremacy only aids and furthers the systems of white supremacy that are in play,” she said.
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