By Paul Bean
Vermont’s political landscape has been rocked by two high-profile incidents over the weekend.
From a chaotic pro-Trump birthday gathering at the Statehouse that ended in a ‘cake kerfluffle,’ to a heated exchange over protest rhetoric involving state party leaders, the events have highlighted Vermont’s divided political landscape.
As tens of thousands of Vermonters gathered across the state for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ rallies on Saturday (6/14), a pro-Trump Flag Day celebration outside the Vermont Statehouse turned messy when a birthday cake explicitly honoring the U.S. flag, the U.S. Army, and President Donald Trump was destroyed by an anti-Trump protester. The event, attended by about 30 supporters and organized by Gregory Thayer, began peacefully with speeches and a decorated birthday cake.
“[We] had a problem towards the end with some guy attacking our cake that I purchased, smashing his frozen water bottle into it. I almost stopped him, but it landed on the center of the cake. Beautiful cake too,” Thayer told VDC.
“As he was smashing the cake I grabbed him to stop, he swung punches at me, then others grabbed him…Others were very nasty, getting in our faces yelling nasty words about Trump, the flag and telling police officers there that they were murderers…They even ripped Martha [Hafner of Randolph]’s children Bible storytelling pieces up in her face… So sad. We need God in our every day lives.”
The altercation began when a protester, identified in media reports as Matthew Baker, came up to the table as Thayer was speaking and smashed his water bottle into the cake. Attendees were stunned and the event broke out into chaos.
The incident has been widely circulated on social media, with some viewing it as a microcosm of the state’s polarized politics, while others dismissed it as a bizarre situation.
Simultaneously, a separate controversy erupted when Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director May Hanlon issued a statement on June 12, condemning alleged remarks by VTGOP Chair Paul Dame and RNC Committeeman Joshua Bechhoefer about protests in California. The protests and riots, sparked by federal immigration law enforcement, have drawn national attention, and some of Vermont’s political leaders have weighed in.
In response to VTGOP Chair Paul Dame and VT RNC Committeeman Joshua Bechhoefer’s comments about the protests in California, Vermont Democratic Party Executive Director May Hanlon released an apparently inaccurate and provocative statement about VT GOP Chair Paul Dame.
Hanlon was recently appointed to executive director of the Vermont Democrat Party following Jim Dandeneau’s exit following a rough election cycle for VT Dems in 2024, losing a total of 24 seats in the Vermont Legislature. This includes 18 seats in the Vermont House of Representatives and 6 seats in the Vermont State Senate.
“If you need any more proof that the modern Vermont Republican Party is simply a mouthpiece for the far-right extremist movement, look no further,” wrote Hanlon.
“This week, VTGOP Chair Paul Dame compared the demonstrations in California against the Trump administration’s unjust targeting of immigrants to 9/11,” Hanlon’s statement continues. “Chair Dame’s comments are outrageous and deeply irresponsible. It trivializes the lives lost on that day, deliberately stokes fear to dehumanize immigrants, and shatters any illusion that the VTGOP holds a balanced, moderate perspective on civil rights,” she wrote.
After some research VDC has been unable to find any comments from Dame comparing the LA riots to 9/11. He has released only two public statements — one on VTGOP Substack and the other on NBC5, and 9/11 is not mentioned once.
Her press release continues, “Worse still, Vermont RNC Committeeman Joshua Bechhoefer has called for using live rounds to disperse protesters. Advocating for shooting at civilians is shocking. It is fundamentally un-American. Bechhoefer’s rhetoric is extremely dangerous, and even further highlights that the VTGOP has no sense of right and wrong. They support violent ideology that shows their ingrained prejudices against people who are not like them.“
NBC5 reported Thursday (6/12) that Bechhoefer confirmed the posts are real, but he says they lack context.
Some of the posts made this week call the protests “anti-American forces gathering like murders of crows in American urban centers.”
Another said, “Yes, I support dispersing these CCP agents with live rounds.”
Following the incident Bechhoefer shared this statement with VDC:
“No statement was made calling for peaceably assembling protesters to be dispersed using live ammunition. This was a selectively clipped screenshot taken from my private account out of context and sent to NBC5 who has since for various reasons taken down the video, in my opinion in part due to shoddy journalism.”
He continues, “This was in response to the use of firebombs which the VT Dems claim in their statement are just protesters. Part of the thread was my observation mayors like Richard Daley of Chicago (a Democrat) in the past were much harder on rioting. My view is considerably more moderate in that police need to be able to deter criminals with firebombs violently attacking them, which VTDems seem to be glossing over. I do not advocate and have never advocated the dispersing via ammunition of anyone engaged in nonviolent crime while protesting, even looting and arson, and certainly not peaceable assembly.”