MONTPELIER — Lawmakers want to hear concerns from the public about clashes between law enforcement officers and protesters during the federal immigration operation in South Burlington earlier this month.
Local and state police have faced scrutiny for standing alongside federal agents on the day of the raid — and helping them clear a path to enter a house on Dorset Street that agents obtained a warrant to enter.
In a hearing last week, law enforcement officials defended their officers’ conduct and blamed any violent altercations on “agitators” among protesters whom they said escalated the confrontation.
Now, lawmakers are hosting a public hearing from 5 to 7 p.m. March 31 in the House chamber to discuss the community’s safety concerns.
“We want to make an opportunity for people to be heard,” said Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although some residents wanted to testify in front of law enforcement, others told Hashim they would feel uncomfortable doing so, he said.
The public hearing will be in front of members of both the House and Senate judiciary committees. Anyone will be able to speak for up to two minutes as long as they sign up by the day before.
“I want to hear the perspective of individuals and just to kind of understand the facts of the situation more broadly,” said Rep. Martin LaLonde, D-South Burlington, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee.
At his weekly press conference Thursday, Gov. Phil Scott said that although he isn’t sure what the hearing will bring, “the Legislature is here to listen.”
Both LaLonde and Hashim said they weren’t sure what steps the Legislature might take after the hearing, but they wanted to hear protester accounts.
Will Lambek, an organizer with the immigrant rights group Migrant Justice, said his organization is calling on legislators to take action in response to the events of March 11.
“We don’t believe that police are showing themselves capable of policing themselves,” Lambek said.
On March 11, federal immigration agents were looking for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, but — in a case of mistaken identity — they confronted another man driving in South Burlington they thought was Corona-Sanchez, according to court filings. Federal agents tried to corner the man with their cars when he drove away, crashing into officers’ vehicles and another car.
Federal officers said the man they were pursuing ran into a house on Dorset Street. As agents arrived at the house, hundreds of protesters gathered outside and surrounded the house in an attempt to prevent immigration officials from entering.
But federal immigration authorities, joined by dozens of local and state police officers, eventually removed protesters from the doorway and entered the Dorset Street home, where they arrested three people. None of the people detained was the man whom agents sought, and all of them have since been released.
Tensions between protesters and law enforcement at the scene escalated throughout the day, with agents eventually throwing flashbang grenades and firing pepper balls into the crowd.
Some activists and protesters accuse law enforcement of escalating tensions that day, rebutting state officials’ claim that “agitators” were responsible for instigating violence. Many activists, including Lambek, accuse state and local police of violating their own anti-bias policing policy, which generally bars officers from “facilitating” civil immigration enforcement.
Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, P/D-Chittenden Central, who sits on her chamber’s judiciary committee, said she’s been calling for a formal investigation by the Legislature. Vyhovsky attended the March 11 protest and has criticized state and local law enforcement as being physically aggressive toward protesters.
“I have a lot of questions that I want answered,” she said.
Hashim and LaLonde both said that hearing from protesters might help them understand if they need to change the state’s laws or policies.
“Unfortunately, this is something that will likely happen again in our state,” Hashim said. “I want legislators to be prepared for how we address it.”
