WILLISTON — A U.S. Department of Homeland Security building in Williston was vandalized with threatening graffiti early Saturday morning, according to local police, about a week after news broke about the department’s plans to bolster surveillance on social media sites at a different facility in the same town.
The building that was targeted is on Harvest Lane, across the street from a national U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence hub. At another site in Williston, off Industrial Avenue, public records released earlier this month show ICE plans to hire a dozen contracted workers to expand its surveillance capabilities.
Williston Police Chief Patrick Foley said the building was vandalized between 2:45 a.m. and 3 a.m. Saturday morning. On Sunday, black graffiti was visible around all four sides. It included phrases such as “kill yourselves,” “shoot yourselves” and “hang yourself,” as well as “not safe” and “die.”
The word “scum” appeared to be written in large letters across the entrance. Another message appeared to read, “We will kidnap you and your kids.”
A Boston Globe story earlier this month described the building as being used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The building was flanked by police tape Sunday afternoon. Several federal law enforcement officers were, for a time, parked outside the ICE facility across the street. Both the ICE facility, and the building that was vandalized with graffiti, appeared to be almost or entirely empty inside.
A protest against the surveillance plans was held on the road in between both buildings that afternoon. It was organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a national, anti-capitalist political movement that has a chapter in Vermont. An organizer of the protest, Cora Honigford, said the group was not responsible for the graffiti and had no information about who had done it.
The vandalism comes as President Donald Trump’s administration has ratcheted up homeland security operations nationwide, prompting protests and, in some cases, clashes between protestors and federal law enforcement.
Foley, the Williston chief, said Sunday afternoon he had assigned a detective to investigate the vandalism but was in the process of working with federal law enforcement to determine who would take the lead on the case going forward. He said he had no other information to share at that point.
Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for more information Sunday afternoon.
