BURLINGTON — Police say they’ve identified an individual involved in the delivery of KKK recruitment fliers to the homes of two black city residents last month.
Officers released surveillance footage from a local copy shop last week of a person who allegedly left one of the fliers in a copy machine. That led Burlington Police Detective Thomas Nash to a person who admitted to him his role in distributing the fliers Monday.
“Identifying this man was the product of excellent detective work by Burlington investigators,” particularly Detective Nash, said Chief of Police Brandon del Pozo in a statement released Tuesday. “It was the culmination of tips provided by both the community and the FBI, forensic and video analysis, and a thorough investigation.”
The evidence gathered by police was turned over to Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan, whose office is weighing the “suitability” of filing charges against the suspect.
Donovan said Tuesday afternoon that he is reviewing the case and expects to make a decision about whether to bring charges before the end of the week. Officials are not identifying the suspect while charges are considered and the investigation continues, they said.
James Haslam, a community activist who organized those rallies, said police identifying a suspect likely gives relief to the two women who were targeted, but he questioned the adequacy of the initial police response to the incident.
“It shouldn’t take community intervention to get the police to do their jobs,” Haslam said. A police dispatcher contacted by the father of one of the women the night she received a KKK recruitment flier was that they wouldn’t get involved because no crime had occurred.
It wasn’t until Haslam contacted Donovan, who in turn notified del Pozo, that the matter was investigated. Del Pozo has said the response of his dispatcher wasn’t what he would have wanted, and that going forward, he wants to be informed of all “bias-related incidents.”
Haslam said that while this is the most “overt” recent example of racism, he hopes it will serve as a reminder that Burlington and the rest of Vermont has more work to do in addressing systemic racial injustice in the community and government institutions.
At two rallies outside City Hall on Church Street in the last two weeks, residents of color have spoken out about how racial bias impacts virtually every aspect of life for minorities in a predominantly white state.
