By Guy Page
The former owner of the Slate Ridge firearms training facility in Pawlet is in jail this morning after being pepper sprayed by a town constable yesterday.
Daniel Banyai, 50, of Pawlet is scheduled to be arraigned at 12:30 PM Thursday, March 21, 2024, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Rutland on charges of aggravated assault on a protected person and resisting arrest, state police say.
The criminal charges follow Banyai’s arrest Wednesday afternoon on a mittimus – AKA an arrest warrant – issued last year by the Environmental Division of Vermont Superior Court. Environmental Court judge Thomas Durkin had ruled that Banyai had refused the town of Pawlet’s request to take down buildings, erected in violation of local ordinances.
The encounter with the town constable, an often overlooked and little-used municipal law enforcement position, may underscore the apparent unwillingness of both county sheriffs and state police to seek to apprehend Banyai, despite requests by town officials. Pawlet does have an active constable presence, as its Facebook page shows.
Banyai was taken into custody after Pawlet Second Constable Tom Covino pulled over a vehicle for speeding in town and discovered Banyai in the passenger seat. An investigation by the Vermont State Police determined that Banyai engaged in a physical altercation with Constable Covino before the constable deployed OC spray on Banyai to gain his compliance.
Banyai subsequently was taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center for evaluation and treatment of minor injuries he sustained in the altercation. He was then brought to the Vermont State Police barracks in Rutland for processing before being transported to the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $15,000 bail pending arraignment.
Constable Covino was evaluated by the Fair Haven Rescue Squad at the Fair Haven Police Department for injuries arising from the altercation.
Slate Ridge was the subject not only of friction with neighbors and local officials, but of state officials and media concerned about ‘militia’ activity in Vermont. The Legislature last year passed a law forbidding gatherings of Vermonters for military-style training.
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Categories: Police Reports
environmental court and protected persons/// the make up of a fascist government/// how about protecting the rights of the people/// property rights/// gun rights/// freedom of speech/// we should be the protected persons and not special rights for government servants///
the key board thumpers must be still sleeping/// i am sure they need the rest/// it is very hard to deal with vermont government corruption///
Yes, let’s be sure to stuff in jail those evil awful horrible zoning violators. Bring them in by all means necessary. Meanwhile in Burlington, if you try to kill someone, no problem! You can immediately go free, no bail required.
If you think for a minute Zoning is just about Municipal Planning and Development, think again!
In1968 Governor Dean Davis created the Governors Commission on Environmental Control. And in January of 1970 they made recommendations which included establishing statewide Zoning, in conjunction with Act 250.
From that point on, Zoning became one of the key components for completing the closed circle of power needed to form a new Public, Private Partnership into a parallel system of control. For without the peoples consent for Zoning Bylaws the circle would be broken. But with that consent a police state would be born in Vermont.
thank you/// lynn edmunds/// but the real operation is metro 13 regional government and you should study how this is set up/// there is no regional government/// this is a taxpayer swindle and scandal set up for insider dealing/// pure state control of all activities/// do you wonder why no one is in jail for the covid scam demic/////// did you ever wonder how regional planning was set up and how it came about/// metro 13 13///
Is law enforcement qualification “military training “?
Good question. With that legislation and the current abuse of the First and Second Amendments by the cultural and political left, you have to wonder if you simply invited friends over to watch a war movie and did a little target shooting in the backyard, would you run afoul?
“The only proper purpose of a government is to protect man’s rights, which means: to protect him from physical violence. A proper government is only a policeman, acting as an agent of man’s self-defense, and, as such, may resort to force only against those who start the use of force. The only proper functions of a government are the police, to protect you from criminals; the army, to protect you from foreign invaders; and the courts, to protect your property and contracts from breaches or fraud by the others, to settle disputes by rational rules, according to objective law. But a government that initiates the employment of force against men who had forced no one, the employment of armed compulsion against disarmed victims, is a nightmare infernal machine designed to annihilate morality: such a government reverses its only moral purpose and switches from the role of protector to the role of man’s deadliest enemy, from the role of policeman to the role of a criminal vested with the right to the wielding of violence against the victims deprived of the right of self-defense. Such a government substitutes for morality the following rule of social conduct: you may do whatever you please to your neighbor, provided your gang is bigger than his.”
AYN RAND
I was hoping this guy could have been a good poster child for freedom of expression, freedom of association and property rights in getting that stupid law overturned, but it turns out that he is just a first class jackass troublemaker from New York, and Vermont already has way too many of those.
was this a test case to justify the protected person law that was passed/// did they find a dumb constable to due the dirty work///
Remember when Senator Chuck Schumer said this: “you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” No different in Vermont, just remove the word “intelligence” and replace with “ignorant.” Interesting how a private land dispute turns into a prime example of lawfare warfare and government overreach. The more the government slams their boot down on the neck of a private citizen over a civil matter, they conveniently instigate a crime to jack up charges to justify their unconstitutional court and unconstitutional, fake authority. Make note to repeal, disband and eliminate the environmental court – it’s just another invention from the corporation against the People.
question/// tel/// lie/// vision/// showed a video of mr. banyai and constable covino fighting/// who was the person that took that video and how did they know to be there at that time///
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”.
Never forget, the Green Mountain Boys would have been in violation of this “law” back in their day. Don’t get caught up in the details here. Every US citizen has the right, some might even say duty, to disregard unconstitutional laws. How are you going to have a “well regulated militia” if you can’t gather to train?
Don’t like it? Move.