Five thousand people gathered in Montpelier and hundreds in small Vermont towns as protests against racial injustice and police brutality continued across the nation over the weekend.
In Southern Vermont, teenagers led hundreds in a rally to raise awareness, alongside local police. In Newport, where roughly 100 people turned out in one of Vermont’s northernmost communities, one local said the rally showed how residents are aware of the impact of police violence on people of color. “That we’re not hiding from this because of our rural location.”
In Rutland, hundreds called for racial justice statewide and in the city. They burst into a spontaneous rendition of “Amazing Grace.”
While thousands across the state met in parks and downtown streets, others — conscious of the risk of gathering amid the Covid-19 pandemic — joined in cars with honks and waves. At a car rally in Morrisville, a message scrawled on a canoe mounted on a Prius called out, “change the systems, racial justice now.”
Protests over the weekend followed gatherings large and small throughout Vermont over the previous week, as Vermonters joined alongside demonstrations across the country, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a black man, in Minnesota. Floyd died when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes during an arrest on May 25. Events in Vermont had previously been held in Burlington, Montpelier, Rutland, St. Johnsbury and other municipalities.
While part of a national movement, the protests spotlight the racial disparities that persist in policing, the criminal justice system, and beyond in Vermont.
In 2018 — the most recent year data is available — Vermont State Police searched black and Hispanic drivers twice as often as white drivers during traffic stops. Data released in Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, last year showed that while racial disparities in traffic stops were decreasing, black drivers were six times more likely to be searched than white drivers.
Burlington police were also more likely to use force against people of color than white people, according to a report last year. Black individuals were the subjects in more than a fifth of the cases where Burlington police used force over the course of seven years, despite making up only 6% of the city’s population, according to a report the department released Friday.
Use of force by police in Vermont has also been an area of concern in the state. VTDigger’s review of fatal use of force by police found that the 2010s were the deadliest decade for police force in Vermont; 17 people, most of whom were white, were killed by police — a drastic increase from previous decades.
Advocates and lawmakers hope the protests refocus efforts on legislation that would change the standard for when police use of force is justified.
This weekend, more events are planned in communities around Vermont (see below for a partial listing). VTDigger will be updating this page with ongoing coverage.
500 march against racism in Rutland
(June 7, 6:49 p.m.)
RUTLAND — At one of the largest Black Lives Matter events in the state over the weekend, about 500 people protested, marched and listened to speeches in Main Street Park in downtown Rutland Sunday.
The youth-led event, organized by former Rutland High School students Aris Sherwood, Kjersti Conway and Maddy Thorner, kicked off just after 10 a.m. with speeches and protesting until 2 p.m., and was followed by a march to Rutland High School where a large crowd gathered under the Black Lives Matter Flag.
The speeches emphasized a need for racial justice in Vermont, and in Rutland.
“This event isn’t for any white person that showed up today,” Sherwood told the crowd. “This is for every single person of color in the state of Vermont. The rest of us? We’re here to show our support, uplift them, and let them know that we hear them, we see them, we stand with them. If a black person speaks, you listen. If a black person leads, you follow.”
Tabitha Moore, president of the Rutland Area NAACP, cited examples of racial prejudice that have occurred locally.
“I’m here for Lisa Ryan,” she said, “our lone black sister on the Rutland City Board of Alderman, one of the only black women in government anywhere in the state, if not the only, who deals with more racism than the rest of us because she dares to speak, dares to exist, and, God forbid, dares to infer that racism happens here.”
Between speeches, protesters lined Route 7, waving signs and flags at cars and many drivers honked back in support. Some drivers circled Main Street Park honking and waving.
Meanwhile, the park’s green bustled with dance performances and chants.
“I’m here to support my half-black sons, and make sure they are not next,” West Rutland resident Katelyn Loomis said. Her sons held signs that read “my life matters” and “scare away racism.”
Josephine Ames, a co-organizer of Colchester’s protest on Saturday, drove 90 minutes to attend the event.
“A lot of protests that I’ve seen in the past on big issues regarding social and racial justice happen in Burlington and Montpelier,” she said, “so we just thought, let’s bring this movement to the smaller towns in Vermont.”
After arriving at Rutland High School, protesters formed a circle under the BLM flag. Here, the group breaks spontaneously into “Amazing Grace.” pic.twitter.com/Spl16JoHIy
— Emma Cotton (@ehcotton) June 7, 2020
At 2 p.m., a long line of protesters proceeded up Woodstock Avenue to Rutland High School. Under the Black Lives Matter flag, the crowd spontaneously broke into singing “Amazing Grace.”
“This is the most support I’ve ever seen from Rutland,” said resident Jason Sheperd.
— Emma Cotton
In Montpelier, 5,000 call to end brutality and defund police departments
(Sunday June 7, 5:44 p.m.)
MONTPELIER — Roughly 5,000 people gathered in Montpelier to denounce police violence and call for reforms. The crowd spilled from the Statehouse lawn onto the surrounding streets as a procession of speakers discussed the experience of being black in Vermont.
Natasha Baning, an educator from Northfield, described an incident earlier this year when a young black man in her community faced hostile questioning by local police while he was walking to play basketball at Norwich University. “He will carry that interaction with him the rest of his life,” she said. Baning described how her son and husband, too. faced routine prejudice in Vermont.
Noel Riby-Williams, who helped organize the event, said educating white Vermonters about these types of experiences was a central goal. “I don’t think people aren’t eager to learn and become educated,” Riby-Williams said in an interview. “I think they just might need a little bit of a push.”
Sharon Boaceng, a student at Montpelier High School, said it was important to seize a moment where it appeared more people were willing to learn about black experiences. “This is really a transitional moment,” Boaceng said. “I believe this moment will be written in the history books.”
Amid the “Black Lives Matter” posters throughout the crowd were signs that read “Defund” or “Abolish the Police.” A growing faction of protesters across the country have argued that funding for law enforcement should be diverted to social services, and some argue that police departments should be eliminated entirely.
“We need to defund the police,” said Ash Diggs, who spoke during the open mic. Diggs said the idea that police departments could be reformed is not enough. “I do believe that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. As many people have said, if one cop commits an injustice, and 99 cops turn their heads, then you have 100 bad cops.”
After the speakers concluded, the crowd marched onto State Street, proceeded through downtown Montpelier, then circled back to the Capitol.
Back on the Statehouse steps, Harmony Edosomwan, a Burlington-based activist who made headlines for her confrontation with Burlington police officials at a protest last weekend, led the crowd in chants of “no justice, no peace, defund the police.”
“I’m not afraid to say we really do not need police officers,” Edosomwan told the crowd. “If we had community councils and community gatherings, it would not only strengthen our communities, but we’ll see that a world is possible without living in a police state.”
Rep. Becca White, D-Hartford, said before the rally began that she supported legislation to increase police accountability. When asked about calls to defund law enforcement, White said, “I support the movement away from police as the main way that we deal with communities in crisis. I support abolishing police as a structural, step-by-step process. I would like to live in a world where we don’t need police, and I think that means the same thing as abolishing the police.”
White said legislative leadership has indicated that they want to work on police reforms, but it’s unclear when. “It’s whether or not we can strategically do it now,” she said, “and how do we navigate a very highly potentially partisan issue at this moment in time?”
There were about 5,000 people at the demonstration, according to Montpelier Police Chief Tony Facos. (This number has been updated from Facos’ original estimate of 3,000.)
— Mike Dougherty
Along Lake Memphremagog in Newport, 100-or-so protesters turn out
(Sunday, June 7, 3:20 p.m)
NEWPORT — Meghan Thompson stood in the shade at the edge of Gardner Memorial Park, resting with two of her kids as the other 100-or-so protesters lined themselves along Route 5 here.
They had all marched from the police station downtown, carrying signs and calling out chants in support of black people, and condemning police violence against them.
“It’s important for people to see that we’re aware,” said the 43-year-old city resident. “That we’re not hiding from this because of our rural location.”
The mood along Lake Memphremagog was one of peaceful solidarity. Parents carried children atop their shoulders. People passing by honked. And city police officers marched with the citizens, at one point blocking traffic so the crowd could continue unimpeded.
“I support this 100%,” said Chief Travis Bingham, recalling his conversation with the event’s organizer, Kayla Birk, a junior at North Country Union High School.
“I know why we’re in the position that we’re in,” the chief said, and he wants to make sure his department “can get the community’s trust back.”
— Justin Trombly
More than 200 drivers — and many more passengers — parade in Morrisville
(Sunday, June 7, 3:05 p.m)
“Change the systems — racial justice now,” read white lettering painted on the side of a green canoe, which was affixed to the top of a blue car at a driving protest in Morrisville early Sunday afternoon.
A spinning globe sat on the roof of a pickup, with a “Black Lives Matter” sign was affixed to the rear window. And a four-door sedan carried the message, “Drive for equity.”
Over 200 vehicles, many with more than two passengers inside, pulled out of the Community College of Vermont parking lot and paraded slowly through Morrisville early Sunday afternoon, spreading the message of racial justice.
The event, put on by members of REAL: Racial Equity Alliance of Lamoille and the Social Justice League, came in response to the killing two weeks ago of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, as a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.
“Some of us grew up here and we just want to be seen in our community,” said Britney Spaulding, who is black and lives in Morrisville. “We’ve gone through some things here and it’s just really important to see everybody coming together and acknowledging that we all have work to do.”
Kirtani Mathauer arrived early to the event in Morrisville on Sunday and used tape to attach a “Black Lives Matters” sign to the side of her vehicle.
“I lived in Vermont my whole life and dealt with racism much of my life,” said Mathauer, who is Indian and lives in Fairfax. She said she hoped the event would convey to others the message of “peace, and love, and harmony, and understanding for people of color.”
Hannah Miller, a member of REAL from Morrisville, spoke of the importance of holding such events in rural areas, as well as the more urban parts of Vermont.
“I’m really glad,” she said, “to see people all over the state starting to participate to make themselves visible and to speak out against things that are important to us and help shape our identity as a rural community.”
Rabbi David Fainsilber of the Jewish Community of Greater Stowe, and also a REAL member, said the group is planning additional events around Lamoille County on the Sundays ahead — including another vehicle parade next Sunday in Stowe.
The aim of the events, he said, is to highlight the “outrageous inequities plaguing this country” and “to keep folks in power accountable, to keep up the education that needs to happen, including in Vermont and in Lamoille where this is also an issue.”
— Alan J. Keays
300 march through Bellows Falls
(Saturday, June 6, 9:02 p.m)
Bellows Falls may be a village of 3,000, but its Black Lives Matter protest Saturday drew just as many attendees as the one in Vermont’s second most populous municipality of Essex on Friday.
A crowd of 300 people on foot, bicycles, skateboards and, in one case, with a pet goat marched past the downtown square, middle school and Catholic church before kneeling silently for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the length of time black Minnesota resident George Floyd was pinned down by a white police officer before he died, sparking demonstrations nationwide.
Twins Ariana and Ariann Beltran were two of several local youth who led the Bellows Falls event.
“We get looks,” Ariann Beltran said of herself and her 19-year-old Puerto Rican sister. “Our skin color has nothing to do with who we are, so we thought, ‘Why not spread awareness?’”
Friend Briana Goncalves said organizers had seen other events in the nearby hub communities of Brattleboro and Keene, New Hampshire, and decided they needed their own.
“We don’t want to attack our local police department,” said Goncalves.
Bellows Falls Police walked and biked with protesters before joining in the period of silence, which momentarily was interrupted by a pickup truck with an “All Lives Matter” sign blaring patriotic music.
“We wanted everybody to be safe,” acting Police Chief David Bemis said of his department’s presence.
Organizers appreciated the effort.
“They were there to support us,” Ariann Beltran said. “That’s the first step to change.”
— Kevin O’Connor
More than 100 line main road in Waitsfield in the rain
(Saturday, June 6, 3:24 p.m.)
WAITSFIELD — More than a hundred people, holding signs and wearing face masks, lined Route 100 in the rain, calling for an end to police violence against black people and systemic racism.
While events have been planned in Vermont’s larger communities, people are gathering in many smaller towns as well, as protests continue across the country.
“We felt it was important to stand up with our neighbors here in the Mad River Valley where most of us are white, specifically to show our solidarity with the movement and our determination to be a part of making change by doing the inner work that white people have to do,” organizer Wrenn Compére said.
A crowd gathered behind the United Church of Christ in Waitsfield took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, in tribute to George Floyd, before fanning out along the main road that runs through town, spaced out with several feet in between each cluster of people.
“This single incident didn’t happen in Vermont, but there are incidents, there is mistreatment, there is the problem here just like everywhere else,” Cassie Burdyshaw, of Warren, said as cars passed along Route 100.
Stephen Magneson, standing with her, said he thinks it’s important for people across the country to speak out.
“We all live with this state sponsored violence, even if it doesn’t touch us directly,” he said. “We’re all living with it and we’re all complicit in it.”
— Elizabeth Hewitt
A crowd rallies against systemic racism in Springfield
(Saturday, June 6, 1:18 p.m.)
SPRINGFIELD — On a hot Friday night, high school student Makaila Dorcely stood in a truck bed, leading a couple hundred people gathered in a downtown movie theater parking in a chant of “No justice, no peace, no racist police!”
“Do you know what I love most about black people?” she told the crowd after the protestors had raised up a fist in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd. “I love the strength we hold in our bodies, our minds and our voices.”
Her father, Ricardo Dorcely, said he doesn’t normally like speaking out, but when the young people in his life ask him to do something, he listens. Dorcely read off names of black people who have been killed, including Breonna Taylor and Trayvon Martin, asking “am I also going to be the norm?”
“I didn’t know George Floyd,” he told the protestors, but “I am George Floyd.”
One of Dorceley’s three daughters, Natalia, read a poem to the crowd about her experience growing up biracial in America.
“America is providing guns before we provide housing,” she said. “America is always saying ‘stay safe’ when my sister or dad are driving home.”
White educators addressed the crowd about the need for others to educate themselves about systemic racism and use their white privilege to speak out.
“We hear everyday that students hear the n-word, see racist memes,” said Chris Lievense, a social studies teacher at Springfield High School, adding “When our students tell us they’re afraid to go to school, we need to listen and act.”
Makaila Dorceley, a Springfield High student, said she and friends started talking about the need to organize after the February shooting of Georgia man Ahmaud Arbery.
“People think just posting (on social media) is enough,” she said.
Isaiah Shabazz, a Bellows Falls resident who came to the protest with his sister, said he showed up because he and his family members are black, and he knows what it’s like to stand out in a mostly white town.
“You don’t speak up on things, but you’re afraid,” he said. “When you ride around with friends that aren’t black, and they’re doing things that are belligerent…you know that ‘oh, you won’t get in trouble for that, but I will.”
— Elizabeth Gribkoff
300 take a knee at vigil in Essex Junction on Friday
(Friday, June 5, 8:49 p.m.)
ESSEX JUNCTION — Kelly Adams knelt on a concrete sidewalk on the edge of the busiest intersection of Essex Junction for the same amount of time that a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on the neck of George Floyd, killing the 46-year-old black man.
“Eight minutes and 46 seconds is a long time,” Adams said as she rose to her feet along with about 300 other kneeling people who joined in the late Friday afternoon vigil and a call for action against police violence on people of color.
Not everyone at the event knelt on the sidewalk and available grassy spaces.
Some people got down and laid flat on their stomachs with their hands behind their backs, illustrating the position the handcuffed Floyd was in when he was killed last week.
Adams, 48, of the group Essex Resist, helped to organize the event that earlier had people lining the sidewalks of the Five Corners in the village center, with many holding signs.
The messages, often written on cardboard, included “Black Lives Matter, “Enough,” “Racial Justice Now,” and “Hate has no home here.”
A constant stream of vehicles flowed through the intersection, and many motorists sounded their horns as they drove through. There were the deep tones from large construction vehicles and peppy toots from the smallest of cars.
“We’re kidding ourselves if we don’t think that racism exists here, too,” Adams said.
Tony Barr, 24, said the event in Essex Junction started after he made a Facebook post.
“I wanted to do a call to action for criminal justice reform,” he said. “I wanted to see if we could get some people to stand out there with us and stand up for doing the right thing, trying to fix a broken system.”
Then, Barr said, he was contacted by members of Essex Resist, who were seeking to put on a vigil in town.
“So we collaborated and we’re doing both of them together,” he said.
Participants began arriving at the Five Corners around 4 p.m.
Tessa Goodrich, 18, of Essex, was among those earlier arrivals.
“I’m just sick of seeing black people die for no reason,” she said. “I think that police need to be held more accountable, they need to be trained differently.”
Hannah Moss, 18, of Essex Junction, echoed those comments, adding “Vermont isn’t innocent” when it comes to police misconduct against people of color. “We definitely want to see some change,” she said.
Essex Police Chief Rick Garey knelt alongside other people at the event on the lawn in front of the village offices on the edge of the Five Corners.
“The cause is a good cause,” he said. “All good police officers don’t agree with the inappropriate use of force.”
Sue Bratek, 78, of Essex, also turned out, along with husband, Richard Bratek, also 78.
“It’s important for people to know that people will stand up for them if something were to occur,” she said, adding, “I would like people to understand that people are people everywhere. They have the same desires, the same hopes, the same dreams, whatever color they are.”
— Alan J. Keays
Demonstrations announced for Saturday, June 6
- Bellows Falls: 3:30 p.m. at Bellows Falls Waypoint Center.
- Bennington: 1 p.m., Pride Parade organizers show solidarity with Black Lives Matter and marginalized communities. Car protest will meet at Willow Park and drive elsewhere.
- South Royalton: 6 p.m. at the green near Vermont Law School. More info from Safe Spaces for BIPOC and Allies.
- Vergennes: 4 p.m. at Vergennes City Park. More info from Jeff Fritz.
- Waitsfield: 9 a.m. at the parking lot behind the Waitsfield United Church of Christ. More info from Indivisible MRV.
Sunday, June 7
- Manchester: 4:30 p.m. at the roundabout.
- Middlebury: 4 p.m. family chalk art at College Park. 5 p.m. march to Cross St. Bridge for vigil.
- Montpelier: Noon on the Statehouse lawn. More info from Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington.
- Morrisville: Noon car protest starting at CCV, 197 Harrel St. More info from REAL: Racial Equity Alliance of Lamoille.
- Newport: 11 a.m. at Newport Police Department. More info from Kayla Birk.
- Rutland: 10 a.m. at Main Street Park.
If you are organizing an event that is not listed here, please email us at contact@vtdigger.org.
