by Alex Nuti-de Biasi
An altercation at a Burlington parking garage captured on video has plunged Bradford and Oxbow High School into the middle of the social media spotlight.
The encounter, which appeared to occur last month, involved students from at least two area schools. There are about two minutes of several video clips that appear to show an adult woman using her smartphone to shoot video of a group of teenagers, including at least three girls.
The videos were posted on Twitter on Nov. 26, the day after Black Friday. At least two of the girls appeared to be holding shopping bags.
“In #Vermont, a #BlackTranswoman was not only verbally, but physically attacked but a bunch of students at a mall,” stated the posting on an unverified account. “Spread this around!”
At least one of the videos appears to be shot by the adult woman herself. Other videos appear to be shot by bystanders or friends of the woman.
In one video, the woman tells one of the girls that her friend made “a comment” about her and she wanted to find out the reason behind the comment.
“You know why I’m not going to touch you?” the woman asks one of the girls. “Because I’m black.”
In another video, one of the girls told the woman that she does “not consent” to being recorded before she appeared to knock the phone out of the woman’s hands. A second girl kicked the phone across the floor of the garage.
“You don’t know what I’m capable of,” the woman stated in a video. “I am not a man.”
One video featured a caption identifying one of the teen’s social media handles and the following script: “Smile ur on camera you racist transphobic peace of s***.”
It is not clear from the videos how the encounter ended. The Burlington Police Department did not respond to an inquiry about the incident.
Although the names of several individuals involved have circulated on social media, we are not identifying the juveniles or their parents and did not obtain contact information for the adult woman.
Although first posted on Nov. 26, the videos appeared to generate engagement over the weekend prompting a response from the school district as well as comments from Rep.-elect Monique Priestley, D-Bradford, and Zach Lang, her Republican opponent from Bradford in the 2022 election.
“I am disheartened and disturbed by the hateful behavior that occurred against a black trans woman the Friday after Thanksgiving involving students of several schools, including Oxbow High School,” Priestley wrote on Facebook. “Acts of hatred, such as this one, have no place in Vermont.”
Lang echoed those sentiments.
“I am saddened to hear of the recent incident regarding students from other schools as well as students from Oxbow High School bullying and harrassing an individual off of school campus,” he said. “Hate and discrimination is unacceptable and I hope that the appropriate actions are taken by those in charge.”
But a parent of one of the girls strongly disagreed with those assessments. He said the encounter started earlier inside a store. His daughter and her friends were “taunted” and baited into the altercation even after they tried on several occasions to walk away and disengage.
“It’s very disheartening to me,” he said about the reaction to the videos on social media. “I have family members who are in the LGBTQ+ community.”
He said the matter was still under investigation by the Burlington Police Department and could not speak at length.
Although the incident took place in Chittenden County, the Twitter user posting the videos also posted photos of the girls’ and Oxbow’s social media accounts. The school came under withering criticism on social media for its climate.
“We are aware of and recognize that there is a lot of hurtful posting of various videos and messages going around social media currently, much of which is misinformation,” said Oxbow administrators Ken Cadow, Ashley Youngheim, and Sarah Wellman in a statement posted on Facebook and sent to parents. “During times of uncertainty, angst, and intense emotions, many of us seek a sense of clarity and understanding so we can rationalize everything going on around us.”
Neither Cadow, Youngheim, or Wellman responded to an email seeking additional information.
Republished with permission from the December 7, 2022 Journal-Opinion, the weekly community newspaper for Bradford and surrounding towns on both sides of the Connecticut.
Categories: Education
What is a transgender woman? Is it a biological female that identifies as a male or is it a biological male that identifies as a female?
It is a mentally disturbed man
A transgender woman is a person who was identified as male or intersex at birth and whose identity is female AND who is living as a woman. There is no such thing as “biological male” or “biological female,” scientifically. As this article notes, sometimes the situation is more ambiguous than people might realize. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/06/15/the-myth-of-biological-sex/?sh=2e6d567376b9
Agreed. No such thing as biological male or biological female. Just like there’s no difference between monkeys and humans. No such thing as plants or animals, either, it all just depends how you identify. I’m an attack helicopter but I only have sex with plankton. How about you? ❤️
I am disheartened that folks on a conservative site like VDC are “confused”. One of the dads even mentioned the trans person–a guy play-acting–was baiting the girls. The trans person is obviously a ‘drama queen’, looking for negative attention, because that’s what ‘they’ generally do.
yeah “forbes” is my go to information source when I want to know “anything.” If I have a question, I ask “forbes.” “Forbes” knows.
Hey Gina, How were you conceived?
There’s no such thing. Its gender dysphoria. Transgender is a term invented by politicians of a particular side aiming to produce more “marginalized ” people and thus more votes. Transsexual is a real, definitive term. Transgender is completely made up.
I’m equally confused, Rob – obviously as is the supposed adult in question interacting with these students.
Much of this insanity is unsurprisingly backfiring. As social “experiments” have long ago proved – no one can “demand” or otherwise force “diversity”, nonetheless “equity” upon human beings of various cultures, religions, etc., and then add to that males who proclaim to be females or vice versa – it is just NOT going to go well.
Again, it has long ago been established that it is NORMAL human nature to align yourself with those with whom one shares commonalities with. Such has never been construed as intrinsically “wrong”.
While physical violence or threats should ALWAYS be condemned & disallowed, high school kids are going to tease & heckle those who seem different or non-conforming. I know this to be a truism – being a former teenage girl myself who often “crossed the line” wearing sneakers that were last season’s – as but one very serious misstep way back when.
These kids are not to blame – but the adults who are forcing them to interact with people who are obviously very seriously mentally ill & expecting them to perceive them as behaving perfectly acceptably. It is the adults in their lives turning their worldview upside down, altering their culture, and yes, – encouraging the violence they view so frequently now coming out of Hollywood, video games, and within the very State and nation wherein they have lived their entire lives.
Shame on the adults causing this desecration of culture, and of character, and of religion, and expecting everyone, including our children, to submit.
So–Every minor dust-up between some kids that involves giggling or snark brings “condemnation” and “outcry”? If THIS is the biggest problem and wastes police time & investigation I guess that recent stabbing death is small potatoes. 1st world “problem”….
It’s always great to see or hear about a situation without knowing the entire story including what provoked the incident. And it’s special that politicians jump right into the conversation without knowing all the facts first.
Anyone expressing an opinion of the situation with incomplete details should not be taken seriously.
You want to discuss gender or race? Fine as long as you don’t bring incomplete stories into it to make your point.
Agreed. But there are take-aways from this incident.
Our culture is sick. As this incident indicates, our patient is running a high fever. To find the underlying cause we must look beyond the players in this minor drama and address the larger issues facing society.
No one’s interest is being served by pursing this without all the facts.
Agreed. But there are take-aways from this incident.
Our culture is sick. As this incident indicates, our patient is running a high fever. To find the root cause we must look beyond the players in this minor drama and look to the larger issues facing our society.
No one’s interest is being served by pursuing this matter without knowing all the facts. The problem with using media postings as a source of information is that you only see what the purveyor wants you to see.
Whatever this black trans actually is, it can go to hell. No more cow-towing to these vermin.
This has absolutely nothing to do with school and the public education individual who commented should be condemned for their statements portraying its involvement.
It’s my opinion that we should stop confirming these people by calling a man she/her or a woman he/him. These people can play any part or be whatever they think they are but the truth is they are not what they claim. Even cutting parts off there or adding parts here does not change a persons gender. Re enforcing these false truths only makes matters worse. To meet and accept a trans anything means that if you accept the false premise you are starting a relationship on a lie. Men can’t be women and women can’t be men. In fact, neither can do the basics in life which is to switch roles in the production of a new life naturally. We need to stop living the lies created by people who should know better but find some kind of virtue in trying to do nice while knowing it’s not true.
Logically, the acronym of LBGTQ+ is redundant. It is an operative psyop created to marginalize and divide the very community proclaiming to protect. It further advances a nefarious intention to incite fear-based hatred among the populace and capture children into false sense of self. Their narrative is to advance violence and use it as an excuse to dismiss accountability and responsibility for their actions. It is also used to protect and promote those who abuse and exploit children.
Did this take place during a school sponsored activity? If not, then why get the school involved? Why even mention where the students go to school?
Our culture is being smothered by this absolutely foolish gender hysteria…so sick of filling out forms that ask me if I identify as a male, female, or ‘other’ … so sick of being asked what pronoun I prefer. I liked a comment on a website by a reader who wrote that when questioned about his gender he would reply…My preposition is “Up” and my pronoun is “Yours.” Sometimes just lean back and laugh at these ridiculously microanalyzed tempest in a teapot issues of the mindless Left…
All I see here is an adult harassing minors. The minors asked not to be recorded and their request was ignored by so called adults. The adults should be prosecuted for harassing children. Our children should be protected from opportunistic stalkers looking to further their cause and exploit minors.
I agree with the comment above. The kids didn’t come to Burlington looking for a confrontation. They didn’t create the situation. They were not aware that Burlington has become a sick, sorry town. When we move to the area 47 years ago it was a great town with beautiful stones. It’s all gone. The closest we get now is the Medical Center. Many feel the same way.
not news