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By Michael Bielawski
Some members of the controversial 2022 St. Albans Belonging, Equity, and Inclusion Committee website have established “St. Albans Hate Watch,” a public hub where locals can report alleged hate crimes.
As reported in VDC, the city Belonging, Equity and Inclusion Committee and the City Council kicked off a black member, Keith Longmore, because they found him insufficiently committed to its interpretation of the advisory committee’s principles. Two of the members were Eliana Castro and Reier Erickson. Both are connected to St. Albans Hate Watch and its parent organization, Neighbors for a Safer St. Albans.
“We are moved by compassion and a commitment to equity,” their hate-watch site states. “We affirm that Black Lives Matter and we stand in solidarity with the global movement for Black lives. We care immensely about our entire community. We believe it is the responsibility of the citizens who employ the police force to question the institution and our local government.”
Region familiar with social justice controversy
The June, 2022 VDC story quoted Longmore saying, “This is without a doubt the most egregiously racist, age-ist thing to ever happen to me in Vermont. The fact that an all-white City Council chose to remove me, an elderly African American, from a Committee named Belonging, Equity and Inclusion is shocking enough.”
Reier Erickson is a founding member of the hate-watch site. VDC has reported on Erickson during his time on the aforementioned BEI committee.
Erickson is quoted saying, “I want to see the Juneteenth flag and I want to see a sign that says Black Lives Matter. Easy enough, we’re going to stand up for Juneteenth. And I think we should celebrate the day when black lives kind of started mattering a little bit.”
Community reporting system
The Hate Watch website has a reporting section so if there’s an incident that’s suspected or deemed to be a hate crime, it can be known where it happened and other details.
Below the interactive map, it states, “White supremacy is a hodge-podge of fascistic, racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic beliefs disguised with misleading rhetoric. Unfortunately, white supremacist groups and activity are on the rise in the United States, and that includes Vermont.”
Some of the reported incidents include stickers found from the alleged hate group Patriot Front, an organization widely believed among pundits to be a fed-run operation. One report says, “Patriot Front Poster (removed)” and there are photos of the stickers.
Another report says “Anti-Semitic poster (removed)” and shows a stop sign where a sticker had been ripped off. It does not give more details other than “On the front of the stop sign. Asks viewers to search for a 12-hour long neo-Nazi film.”
Another says, “Young man w/ fascist tattoos at BLM rally” and states “White supremacy is a hodge-podge of fascistic, racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic beliefs disguised with misleading rhetoric.”
Another incident regards homemade incendiary bombs that failed to detonate in 2020. The media did not report any apparent suspect or motive.
Who started this?
Although the site itself may lack recent activity, its founders continue to have active lives in Vermont.
According to a St. Alban’s Messenger report, the founders include Reese Kelly who is CEO and founder of Embodied Values, a business in Burlington that focuses on influencing culture and values within other organizations. And in addition to Erickson. another founder is Eliana Castro, an Assistant Professor of Secondary Education and Curriculum and Instruction at UVM.
Erickson was vice chair of the Belonging, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. Neither he nor Castro sit on the committee now.
In the Messenger article, Castro indicates that she influences her students’ political world view. She tells the Messenger that every student should have “a chance to learn about injustices and how communities, collectives — not mere individuals — can shatter oppressive systems and disrupt the harm they do.”
Anti-police rhetoric
The organization has postings on various political causes, including on its Instagram page. Some posts concern School Resource Officers, currently the only armed defense option for public schools in the face of school shooting threats.
A post states, “I will fight to remove SROs because kids who are disabled, BIPOC, or LGBTQIA are more likely to have negative interactions with these cops than their white, hetero and neurotypical counterparts.”
Another post suggests that policing overall is corrupt. It states, “Policing is an institution that upholds imbalanced power structures and systems of oppression. The problem with police should not be seen as situational or temporary but embedded in the fabric of the police.”
The author is a writer for the Vermont Daily Chronicle
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Categories: Race and Division
Waiting for the comments.
Erickson’s first act of the day as a “hate watcher” ought to be having a good look in the mirror. If he is so race-obsessed that he wants to see a Juneteenth flag and a BLM sign, he is free to display them on his own premises or some other private property with the owner’s permission. Most of the rest of us are getting past the sick, twisted, unhealthy obsession with race that is constantly being promoted by leftist agitators. If he apparently has such disregard and bias against all police, and considers them all racist, then I wonder who he would call if he hears some depraved junkie kick his door in at 2am?
Sounds as if Ericson is a bit of a racist himself. I thought we are all supposed to be equal.
I’d like to report a hate crime. The “hate watch” website is a hate crime.
In 1939, German citizens were told to report anyone doing anything against the established government rules. A website devoted to hate, and watch sounds eerily similar. Democrats are always talking about hate because they are so filled with hate, gender and race issues. When was the last time you had a conservative up in your face telling you had to use their pronouns.
They are racists, plain and simple. Race-baiters, race opportunists, racism seeders, carpetbagging elitist morons parroting lies in ideological oblivion. These morons need a mirror if they want to watch hate up front and close. I’ve always opposed racists, and these new eugenicists are as misguided and delusional as their forebears…. in the state that led the world’s Abolitionist movement and gave blacks the vote 150 years before the nation did! Keith Longmore called them out — and was the black victim of their hate on behalf of black victimhood. You can’t make this kind of Naked Emperor stuff up! These people have no systemic racism, actual policies, or known racist groups to justify their blathering, useless existence — so they are trying to drum up ANYTHING to justify their own contempt and hatred toward fellow Vermonters. Disband this folly before embarrassing yourselves further. St Albans is looking really idiotic, and has worked hard to gain that look.
Well maybe next time Erickson or Castro has someone breaking in there home they should call one of their LGBTQIA friends to come arrest the culprit so that they don’t bother the police,
When the Chicago chapter of blm posted images of armed gliders in support of Hamas’ attack on innocent Jews after October 7th 2023 was that “hate speach “? If a dark skinned person commits a crime against a light skinned individual, is that a “hate crime”? So sick of your mindless virtue signaling. Sit down.
First off I’ve never known a crime to be committed that didn’t have its roots in hatred; hatred for G-D’s law, hatred for one’s neighbor, hatred towards one’s own self. Unless of course it was a “crime” that violated a “law” that in itself was criminal… think non Jews hiding Jews from the nazis.
Secondly, “”Another says, “Young man w/ fascist tattoos at BLM rally”” are we going to start having to gain approval from society as to the nature of out tattoos!!!??? And this question coming from one who doesn’t have one single tattoo and doesn’t ever plan to. Y’all got way too much on your hands, and hey, usually when we grow up we’re no longer afraid of the bogey man…whatever/whoever that is!!!
We should start a Love Watch website for Vermont.
Love conquers all, especially that haters.
Patriot Front is not feds I can assure you, as a persecuted political dissident and activist, I know PF men and the founder personally. Pretty poor liberal-CNN-tier reporting Mike if your source on that is a video from The Hill quoting Joe Rogan.