BURLINGTON — A Burlington man has denied misdemeanor charges accusing him of breaking the window of a police van and hurting a trooper during a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid and related protest in South Burlington.
Colin Wesley Palmer, 24, entered not guilty pleas during a hearing Tuesday in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington to charges of simple assault of a protected professional and disorderly conduct stemming from the chaotic incident on March 11 on Dorset Street.
The prosecution did not seek bail or conditions on his release, and Palmer left the courthouse after his arraignment.
Robert Appel, Palmer’s attorney, said after the court proceeding that the prosecution had offered his client the opportunity to have the charges resolved through a confidential diversion process that could have left Palmer with no criminal record.
The initiative permits people, often first-time offenders facing lower-level charges, to complete certain requirements, which can include community service and other works to address harms caused by their actions.
However, Appel said, Palmer declined that offer, in part because he wanted the case to play out in public so the actions of federal immigration officials as well as local and state police during the raid and protest could get a fuller airing.
“He’d like to get this behind him, but at the same time he wants to call into question police conduct on that day,” Appel said, adding, “Wes made a decision that he wants the world to know what happened.”
Appel said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges as part of that process. “We’ll just take it a step at a time,” said Appel, the state’s former defender general and past leader of the Vermont Human Rights Commission.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George had previously declined to prosecute several other people issued citations by police in connection with the March 11 raid and protest, prompting criticism from law enforcement.
George, speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after Palmer’s hearing Tuesday, said her office believed that the charges brought in Palmer’s case were warranted.
“From the very beginning when these cases have been coming to our office I’ve been very clear that the ones that we have received from law enforcement and we’ve declined have been, in my opinion, individuals who were engaged in nonviolent activity,” George said.
“The two that we have now charged were different. They both have engaged in a level of behavior that felt like it needed to be charged,” George added.
Connie Anania of South Burlington pleaded not guilty earlier this month to charges of simple assault of a protected professional and negligent operation for her alleged actions at the Dorset Street scene on March 11. The charges alleged that Anania had driven her vehicle toward protesters and police, placing them in fear of being struck.
In the case of Palmer, George was asked why she brought the charges but then offered to have the case referred to a diversion program. George replied that diversion is common for a young person with no criminal record, like Palmer, accused of lower-level offenses.
The prosecutor added that a charge needs to be filed for a case to be referred to diversion.
Palmer was issued a citation last month to appear in court after Vermont State Police called on the public for assistance in identifying a person they said broke a window of a van with troopers inside who were leaving the scene on Dorset Street. Police later identified Palmer as that person.
Detective Trooper Griffin Pearson suffered an eye injury in the incident from flying glass, according to police. Pearson wrote in an affidavit filed in support of the charges that he had to go to the University of Vermont Medical Center’s emergency room, where a doctor removed a shard of glass from inside his right eye.
The raid prompted strong criticism from political leaders and civil rights advocates across the state, who condemned the tactics ICE used.
The incident has also led to scrutiny of state and local police, who have defended their actions, for their role working alongside ICE and physically engaging with protesters.
If convicted of the two charges, Palmer faces up to two years and two months in prison.
