NEWPORT, Vt. (WCAX) – Friends and family of a Vermont veteran charged with domestic terrorism rallied in Newport Thursday, saying the charges stem from a mental health crisis and are unwarranted.

Vermont State Police say Joseph “J.J.” Millett, 38, of Newport, called a veterans crisis line in February, making suicidal statements and threatening a mass-casualty event.

Court records say Millett had guns and wrote what investigators call a manifesto. He turned himself in, and state police say they disarmed him at the barracks. He pleaded not guilty and was never formally arrested or placed in jail. He is currently in a treatment facility.

Supporters say the threats were the result of new medication and a mental health crisis. “But all the way to domestic terrorism for a man that fought overseas — he wasn’t a terrorist. He’s been fighting terrorists half his life,” said Chad Abbott, a friend who served with Millett overseas.

Abbott said he believes the charges could have unintended consequences for veterans seeking help. “These hotlines that they put out for us is to kind of get us the help we need. And now, none of us are going to want to call that,” he said.

Millett’s sister, Courtney Morin, said her brother served in the Vermont Guard for nearly 10 years and has struggled with mental health since returning home. “He suffers from depression, anxiety — he has PTSD. So, he’s actually been seeking help for his mental health for probably as long as he’s been home,” Morin said.

Orleans County State’s Attorney Farzana Leyva said the charge is warranted and that Millett was not calling for help when he contacted the crisis line. “He called the crisis helpline to make the threats. I think we have to be very clear about that. Those were threats. He did not call the crisis helpline for help. He called anonymously,” Leyva said.

She said the evidence — including repeated threats — Millett’s access to guns, and a manifesto justifies the charge and protects the public. “My priority is public safety, which is the highest priority that I have right now,” Leyva said.

Morin said she believes her brother was trying to get help. “I think he was seeking help. I mean, it’s all a trail of him seeking help, being on different meds. You know, we’re not in his head. We don’t know what he’s dealing with. And especially if you’re dealing with it alone,” Morin said.

Millett continues to receive treatment and is due back in court later this month.

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MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Most Vermont school budgets passed Tuesday, but 19 districts and supervisory unions saw their spending plans rejected — an uptick from the nine that failed in 2025, though well below the 29 that failed in 2024.

Some education leaders say the results show communities are largely supportive of their schools.

“We’re starting to kind of equalize out again towards the normal trend of passage of school budgets each year,” said Chelsea Meyers of the Vermont Superintendents Association.

Sue Ceglowski of the Vermont School Boards Association said the results send a clear message. “Vermont taxpayers support Vermont’s public schools,” she said.

Meyers said the results also raise questions about the scope of education reform being considered in Montpelier. “If we are going to reform the system, it might not require sweeping broad changes as are being considered right now, but a more concise approach to consider that inequity,” she said.

But in districts where budgets failed, officials say structural changes are still needed. In Barre, where the budget failed, Barre Unified Union School District Board Chair Michael Boutin said the Legislature must, at a minimum, create a new funding formula. “We have to have that in order to avoid the huge increases and decreases — the huge increases that we’ve seen in the last couple years,” Boutin said.

He said the rise in school budgets is separate from why property owners are seeing sharp tax increases. The average state increase in school budgets is 4%, but the average property tax increase is 10%, driven by cost factors including health care. “There’s a complete disconnect, and that’s a product of the terrible system that we have in Vermont with our funding formula,” Boutin said.

Ceglowski says the state should address health care costs before moving forward with rapid education policy changes. “Addressing the rapid rise in the cost of school employees’ health benefits by ensuring a fair and balanced statewide bargaining process for those benefits,” she said.

The 19 districts that did not pass their budgets will need to draft new spending plans to present to voters, which often requires cuts. Twelve school districts are scheduled to vote at a later date.

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