Asked Friday if reports of a planned attack on the Michigan governor and state capitol have made him feel unsafe, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said he feels well-protected.
But it’s disappointing to see the inflamed rhetoric that has contributed to divisions in the nation, the governor said at his twice-a-week Covid-19 press briefing.
“Where we are today, as a country, where we’re so polarized, we’re so divided, we need to heal that,” said Scott, who has been putting forth a message of conciliation for years. “We do that by being better people, by being better role models, to tamp down the rhetoric to try and to find ways to work together.”
Scott was asked repeatedly Friday about the alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and stage a possible commando raid on the state capitol. According to the Detroit Free Press, authorities said Thursday that a group called the Wolverine Watchmen planned to storm either the capitol or Whitmer’s vacation home as part of a broader mission to instigate a civil war.
The group’s organizers face felony charges of domestic terrorism.
When asked about his own safety, Scott said he’s confident that the Vermont State Police intelligence unit and other law enforcement agencies are doing a good job of protecting him.
“I feel I’m in good hands,” Scott said. “I have a great deal of respect for our law enforcement community, and I feel very well protected.”
Scott has long brought up the issue of tolerance when speaking publicly at partisan and nonpartisan events. In recent years, as the national discourse has become more polarized, he has often taken time to ask Vermonters to look for areas of common ground. On Friday, he reiterated that message.
“It doesn’t mean that we don’t disagree, but it does mean that we do so civilly and respectfully,” he said. “There’s a way to effect change. And it’s through the ballot box or running for office or petitioning the government. But it isn’t through violence.”
Scott said every Vermonter has a responsibility to be vigilant and report any danger, such as the type of activity that was reportedly foiled in Michigan. Vermonters who see something suspicious should call their local law enforcement office, said Public Safety Commissioner Mike Schirling.
“There are tip lines available,” Schirling said. “But the easiest is just to call whichever law enforcement covers your area to report something suspicious.”
Low transmission in schools
At the briefing Friday, Education Secretary Dan French said Vermont hasn’t discovered any transmission of the Covid-19 virus in a K-12 setting. He added that schools are starting more in-person instruction, something he and Scott have been encouraging.
“With a month under our belts, we’re hearing of more and more schools increasing the amount of in-person instruction they’re offering,” Scott said. “This is exactly what we had hoped for: providing schools can reopen safely, which increases the amount of time kids can be in the classroom.”
French said he talks to school superintendents every week.
“They are very familiar with the ability to toggle between in-person remote and so forth,” said French of the switch between in-person and remote learning. “I expect that will be essentially the new normal for the rest of this year, not just the winter.”
French estimated there have been 50 cases in Vermont colleges; nationwide, there are about 178,000 college cases.
Northeastern outbreak
Vermont’s Covid-19 infection rate remains low, with no new deaths reported in several weeks. But the state did recently experience an outbreak among workers at Champlain Orchards in Shoreham. And Covid-19 case numbers are rising in the nearby metropolitan areas of Boston and New York.
Dr. Mark Levine, the state’s health commissioner, said the Health Department is watching closely as the case rate rises in surrounding areas. As part of its epidemiological modeling, the state looks at hospitalizations, proportional growth of cases, and the number of new cases, he said.
“If there is a trend that is really adverse, obviously we’re going to pick up on that very early on and deliberate about how to manage,” Levine said. “We are seeing nationally and regionally increases that are concerning us and the increases we’re seeing regionally concern us more than the ones we’re having within our borders.”