Officials condemn ICE’s actions at violent Vermont protest, while advocates question state’s role – The Boston Globe

Meanwhile, new details emerged about the day-long skirmish, which included a lengthy standoff outside a residence in South Burlington, the detention of three undocumented immigrants, none of whom were the original target, and the use of pepper spray and flashbang devices for crowd control.

Local and state police said the incident began around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sought to detain a man they believed to be Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, a Mexican citizen who had previously been deported and subsequently charged with driving under the influence in Vermont.

Federal officials pursued a car they believed Corona-Sanchez was driving in a busy neighborhood of South Burlington. The driver crashed into multiple vehicles, including two driven by federal agents, and then escaped on foot. Authorities surrounded a nearby house into which they said the driver had fled.

Occupants refused to let federal agents into the house without a warrant and, with assistance from the advocacy group Migrant Justice, summoned supporters to block the doors. Over the course of the day, the crowd swelled to more than 200 people singing and chanting as more law enforcement officers arrived.

Just after 5 p.m., an unidentified federal agent told the crowd a federal judge had issued a criminal arrest warrant for Corona-Sanchez and ordered them to disperse. Vermont state troopers wearing tactical gear cleared a path through the protesters, allowing federal agents to enter the house — and leave a short time later with three people.

Protesters sought to prevent federal agents and police from departing by blocking their vehicles while officers wrestled some protesters to the ground, pepper-sprayed them, and deployed flashbangs. At least three protesters were cited for criminal trespass, according to Vermont State Police.

On Thursday, the US attorney in Vermont said the three people detained inside the house did not include Corona-Sanchez. And, according to Rachel Elliott, a spokesperson for Migrant Justice, Corona-Sanchez no longer owned the car, was not driving it on Wednesday, nor was inside the house raided by agents.

Rather, Elliott said, the occupants included two women from Ecuador, one man from Honduras, and two minors. She said the man, Christian Jerez-Andrade, was among the passengers in the car, along with one of the minors, a 17-year-old boy. According to Elliott, the driver of the car, whom she did not identify, never entered the house. The other minor, a young girl, was spirited out of the house Wednesday afternoon, before the protest escalated.

Jerez-Andrade and the two women were being held in Vermont prisons Thursday. Their attorneys filed petitions in court seeking to keep them in Vermont, and federal judges granted their requests later that day.

Elliott described a harrowing scene inside the house. She said the 17-year-old “watched armed officers chase people through the home.” At one point, she said, a federal agent tripped and accidentally discharged their service weapon.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

Top officials in the state blasted federal agents for initiating the raid and confronting protesters, all while failing to achieve their initial objective of detaining Corona-Sanchez.

“President Trump’s domestic army, ICE, came into Vermont yesterday from out of state and, as is virtually always the case, acted in an irresponsible, reckless and unprofessional manner,” said Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch, as well as Representative Becca Balint, in a statement.

Governor Phil Scott, a Republican who has long distanced himself from the Trump administration, called the incident “totally unnecessary,” and said the actions of federal law enforcement “further demonstrates a lack of training, coordination, leadership, and outdated tactics which put both peaceful protesters and Vermont law enforcement in a difficult situation.”

He thanked local and State Police, but he criticized “those there to agitate,” an apparent reference to protesters, some of whom threw water bottles and other objects at police vehicles.

Sarah George, the county prosecutor, called for the US attorney’s office to investigate the conduct of federal agents, a sentiment echoed by other officials.

One statewide officeholder, Treasurer Mike Pieciak — a Democrat viewed as a potential challenger to Scott — went a step further, calling for an independent investigation of both federal and state law enforcement.

“Who made the decision and why was the decision made for the State Police to get involved in an immigration enforcement matter?” he said in an interview.

State and local police agencies in Vermont are required to follow Fair and Impartial Policing policies, which limit the extent to which they can cooperate with federal authorities on immigration matters. Pieciak questioned whether Vermont State Police might have run afoul of those policies when they pushed through the crowd so ICE agents could reach the house.

“It seems like the State Police were providing the pathway, providing the opportunity for ICE agents to get into the house and conduct their search or try to execute on their arrest warrant,” he said. “And without the State Police, that would not have happened.”

But Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison, who oversees the State Police, took issue with the notion her officers facilitated the arrests.

“We did not help ICE get into the house,” she said. Rather, state troopers “created a safe corridor” through which federal agents could move, she said, “and make their way to the door, where they handled the operation exclusively.”

Morrison said her agency made the assessment, based on similar protests throughout the country, that without its involvement, federal agents were more likely to use “techniques . . . that could have harmed Vermonters.”

Lia Ernst, legal director for the ACLU of Vermont, said she was skeptical local and State Police were focused on keeping protesters safe and protecting the First Amendment.

“When they’re gearing up in masks and tactical gear, that doesn’t feel to me like an agency preparing to do those things,” Ernst said, calling for a “full and thorough” investigation.

At least one local officer was already facing scrutiny Thursday.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, whose police department assisted at Wednesday’s incident, said the city was reviewing the actions of a Burlington officer “who has been accused of using excessive force against protesters.”

She appeared to be referring to an officer pictured in a video circulating on social media who grabbed a woman by the arm, swung her around, and slammed her to the curb. The woman, Gwendolyn Heaghney, 33, of Winooski, said she had been trying to remove a mask from a fellow protester who was being led away by police in order to help him breathe.

“It was just like crazy whiplash,” she said Thursday as she sought treatment at a local hospital. “I’ve never really been in a physical fight, but he grabbed my arm, twisted it, and my whole body went with him.”

Heaghney said she hoped to see “something other than milquetoast” statements from politicians and police.

“I want to see some accountability,” she said.

Paul Heintz can be reached at paul.heintz@globe.com. Follow him on X @paulheintz.