By Guy Page
Political candidates, both incumbents and hopefuls, are lining up in opposition to Attorney General Charity Clark’s decision to charge the ‘Williston 13’ anti-ICE protesters with trespassing. The protesters pleaded innocent in Vermont Superior Court last week to trespass during a July protest at the ICE National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center in Williston.
Clark said she’s just upholding the law and that her personal political preferences are clearly on the side of the trespassers.
“I myself have literally protested at an ICE facility in Williston,” Clark said in interview statements reported Friday, September 24 by Vermont Public. “At the same time, I am a prosecutor bound by the Constitution, and I always have to do the constitutional thing, even if it’s not politically popular.”
Clark would not say whether she would send the cases to diversion, which is common for lower-level charges and first-time offenses.
After Clark’s decision went public, at least two Chittenden County Senate candidates spoke out against it, as did Burlington Mayor Emma-Mulvaney Stanak and Treasurer Michael Pieciak.
Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale issued this statement Friday:
“I am deeply disappointed by the decision to prosecute 13 Vermonters for peaceful civil disobedience at the ICE surveillance facility in Williston. At a moment when the federal government is escalating attacks on immigrants and our civil liberties, Vermont should not be using its prosecutorial power in ways that chill free speech and peaceful dissent.
“I am especially concerned that the Attorney General’s Office attempted to charge an 18-year-old as an adult, which would have been out of alignment with our statute and could set a troubling example far beyond Vermont. These prosecutions are already making people think twice about exercising their right to protest when we need their voices most.
“Our courts are already backlogged with real threats to public safety, and this is not what our top prosecutor should be prioritizing. There is still time to change course, and I urge the Attorney General’s Office to dismiss these charges.”
Democrat Chittenden Central Senate candidate Nikhil Goyal wrote on his Facebook page that “Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark is prosecuting thirteen individuals who peacefully protested the ICE surveillance facility in Williston. Two of the individuals are hopeful constituents of mine, including Linda Ayer. This is who the AG is choosing to prosecute. I stand with Linda and the Williston 13. AG Clark has the power to drop the charges. I hope she listens. I’ve reached out to her office and haven’t heard back.”
Burlington Mayor Emily Mulvaney Stanak:
“The Vermont Attorney General’s decision to prosecute peaceful protesters is deeply disappointing. Non-violent civil disobedience has a long and important history in Vermont and in our country for political action and disrupting charm caused by institutions, including the government.
“I grew up in a family that engaged in community organization and actively participated in civil disobedience against war, militarization and nuclear proliferation. I am proud of that legacy. At a time when ICE is terrorizing communities across the country, I understand the desire of members of our community to take a stand and I commend them for doing so peacefully. Prosecuting the conduct of the 13 protesters does not make us safer, nor is it a good use of limited public resources. I call on Attorney General Clark to dismiss the charges for the protesters.”
Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak
“I was surprised to learn the Attorney General decided to prosecute the 13 peaceful protestors arrested at the ICE facility in Williston.
“I disagree with this decision to prosecute Vermonters for peacefully exercising their first amendment rights in the face of serious injustices against our immigrant neighbors.
“Prosecutors have discretion over which cases to charge. They regularly choose not to charge cases in the interests of justice or to preserve scarce government resources. It is clear to me that pursuing this case will not bring justice to our communities and is a waste of taxpayer dollars.
“These protestors were doing what their political leaders have repeatedly called for at this moment: speak up and take peaceful action against the unconstitutional and un-American actions of ICE and the Trump Administration.
“I call on the Attorney General to reconsider and dismiss these charges.”
Louie Manno, a Republican running in the Chittenden Central district against Goyal, supported Clark. “Interfering with government operations is against the law. There’s a law against it and they broke it. That’s how it works,” he said on a statement on Goyal’s FB page.