Burlington city councilors on Monday pushed for answers while members of the public harshly criticized interim Police Chief Shawn Burke, demanding an explanation for how and why his department got involved in helping federal immigration agents execute a warrant on a South Burlington home earlier th is month. For Burke, it was his third time publicly discussing the events of March 11, during which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents started a daylong standoff at a Dorset Street home when they tried to arrest a man they thought was inside. As throngs of protesters gathered outside the home, Burlington police officers responded to help South Burlington cops with crowd control as part of a longstanding mutual aid agreement, according to Burke. Vermont State Police troopers also played a prominent role in the days’ events, which has raised questions about violations of the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy. Though three people were eventually removed from the residence, the man ICE sought was never there. Those detained have all since been released from custody. Things escalated towards the end of the standoff, when ICE agents used flash-bangs, chemical irritants and shot protesters with pepper balls. Some Burlington cops have been accused of using excessive force, and the entire incident is under internal investigation by the police department. But Burke defended the overall response during Monday’s meeting, saying his officers were put in a difficult position as they dealt with “agitators” in the large crowd. “Our officers showed a tremendous amount of restraint at times with the amount of resistance they faced, such as having objects thrown at them, being spit upon, being thwarted in advancing what is not liked, but is a lawful objective of the federal government. Moving detainees away from a home is a lawful action by a federal law enforcement agency,” he said. Burke’s comments did not sit well with some of the crowd inside city hall at Monday’s meeting. More than 60 people, most of them Burlington residents, signed up for a public comment period that went on for over two hours. Many were on Dorset Street and testified to the violence they witnessed — or were victims of — at the hands of local police. And many felt the crowd of protesters would have succeeded in driving away ICE agents if local police had not shown up to help the feds. “Which side are you on?” many asked the city councilors. Advocates with Migrant Justice directly accused the Burlington Police Department of violating the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, which prohibits local law enforcement from aiding ICE in a variety of ways. The farmworker advocacy organization helped author the policy. “I want to be clear that the provisions that were violated on March 11 were drafted by Migrant Justice specifically with these situations in mind,” said the group’s spokesperson, Will Lambek, before citing some. “There is no way in hell I will stand aside and remain quiet as the people whose salaries I have to pay back up ICE agents,” said Grace Oedel, who was at Dorset Street. “I remain hopeful because on the 11th I experienced what Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King called the beloved community.” Another speaker, Griffin DeMatteo, brought his guitar and sang his public comment. He quoted Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak’s executive order that was supposed to bar police cooperation with ICE and the statewide Fair and Impartial Policing Policy. “The mayor said they were just trying to help keep us safe,” he sang. “If that’s true, then why did one of them mace my friend in the face?” Gwendolyn Heaghney, center, at the Statehouse last week Credit: Jeb Wallace-Brodeur Some videos from the Dorset Street scene appear to show Burlington Officer Julian Gonzalez throw two people to the ground. One of them, Winooski resident Gwendolyn Heaghney, spoke at the hearing and said she suffered a concussion and extensive pain to her neck, back and shoulders after she was thrown down and pinned to a curb by the officer. “Obviously, the ones harmed the most are the ones who are stolen from their families, but I also think it’s important to recognize the mass community trauma inflicted by those supposedly there to protect us,” she told the crowd. Before the meeting, Heaghney told Seven Days that she has requested a financial settlement from the city but has not filed a lawsuit. Others who spoke at the council meeting also alleged they had been physically harmed by Gonzalez and called him out by name. Burke said that Gonzalez remains on active duty, but Mulvaney-Stanak has said the conduct of all officers is under review. During his comments, Burke walked councilors through a timeline of his department’s response, from South Burlington’s mutual aid request at 12:39 p.m. that Wednesday, the arrival on scene of 11 officers of varying rank at 5:50 p.m., and their engagement with protesters beginning around 6:20 p.m. Burlington police were provoked by a subset of the protesters at the scene, according to Burke. As an ICE agent tried to flee in a truck, the mirror on the vehicle hit a Burlington officer, Burke said. The chief said his department detained three protesters before citing and releasing two of them, and one officer deployed pepper spray. Burke said no body camera footage from March 11 would be released to the public at this time, citing the internal investigation into use of force complaints and a request for the footage from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s criminal investigations unit. Mayor Mulvaney-Stanak acknowledged that Burlington officers were “placed in a very difficult, fast-moving situation responding to a call for assistance from a neighboring municipality involving a serious public safety incident and also an incompetent federal operation that they did not initiate and could not control.” She said the council session was an important step towards “transparency” and urged patience with an investigation that she said would be extensive. She also warned community members not to allow this moment to sow division. “We can hold each other and our institutions accountable and support one another at the same time, and we can stay grounded in our shared values of safety, dignity and accountability for everyone who calls Burlington home,” she said. Protesters are pinned to the ground by two Burlington police officers Credit: File: Daria Bishop Even Burke acknowledged that local police involvement in the events of March 11 had been a public relations nightmare. “I fully acknowledge that this incident has lowered the public’s confidence in Vermont law enforcement, a very frustrating element of this incident,” he said. Councilors questioned Burke on the particulars of Burlington’s mutual aid agreement, which the chief said must be honored so neighboring departments would do the same. Burke emphasized the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation he felt his officers were put in. While some councilors praised those who spoke about their experience of being brutalized by police and acknowledged that ICE had put local law enforcement in a difficult position, others were frustrated that local law enforcement assisted in the botched detainment operation at all. “As a human being with a functioning brain and soul, I will say clearly that what happened on March 11 is not right, and I will not stand for it,” said Councilor Becca Brown-McKnight (D-Ward 6). “We need to take serious action to prevent that from happening again.” “We arrested people who were not being accused of any crime, any criminal offense, and we have to look at our complicity in that,” said Councilor Melo Grant (P-Central). Council President Ben Traverse (D-Ward 5) had the last word, during which he castigated federal law enforcement while praising Burke. “You have the respect of the department. You have again, still, I think, the respect and trust of this community,” Traverse said to the chief. “I appreciate you acknowledging that the incidents of March 11 have eroded some of that trust, but I know since you’ve come here, you’ve been completely committed to working to rebuild that trust.” The council plans to continue the discussion, with multiple community organizations, at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31. The post Burlington City Council Grills Chief Over South Burlington ICE Raid appeared first on Seven Days. ...read more read less