Vermont Community Elders Stage Sit-In at Williston ICE Office

WILLISTON – Thursday, Jan 22. At approximately 1pm, a group of about a dozen Vermont community elders with whistles entered the atrium of White Cap office park, home of ICE’s National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center. The group inside refused to leave when ordered by Williston Police, the property manager, and federal agents, demanding instead that the landlord renegotiate and cancel the facility’s lease. Outside the building, a small group of protesters held up a large “ICE OUT” banner.

For the next 3.5 hours, the group inside sat together in silence, pausing every 90 seconds to read the name of someone who died in ICE custody or who was killed by ICE, followed by a loud whistle blast. Williston Police arrived at around 1:30pm, and asked protesters to leave and stop making noise. This information was relayed to the group inside. A group of 5 elders refused and remained in the atrium accompanied by a medic and physical therapist. Around 2pm, property manager and landlord Normand Stanislas arrived and began screaming at supporters gathered outside that he would have them arrested. Around 3:15, the Williston Police announced that they had determined that the protestors were not breaking the law and were acting within their first amendment rights. They declined to arrest the group, which had paused blowing whistles to sit in front of the ICE office doors. 

After the Williston Police had left, two DHS agents approached the group and threatened to charge them with Class C federal misdemeanors. The agents attempted to physically remove one of the elders, and walked him away from the group briefly. The agents left without issuing any citations. The group continued to exercise their right to protest with banners and singing until around 4:30pm, when they left the office park of their own accord.

Karen Bixler, 83, of Bethel said, “I’m taking this action to bring attention to our state’s role in this horrific institution. White collar workers, sheltered from the brutality that is taking place in our country, are providing ICE with information to aid in their raids. They’re slave catchers.”

This protest follows several months of public outcry against the Industrial Ave facility, which is used to monitor civilian social media activity and identify targets for ICE detention and deportation. Over the winter, community groups conducted several noise demos at White Cap Business, and anonymous individuals hung a banner from the flagpoles reading “ICE VIOLATES RIGHTS HERE.”   

70 year-old Dorothy Mammen of Middlebury said: “This facility is staffing up to spy on people via social media, to flag "negative sentiment" toward ICE and build dossiers on anyone who opposes fascism. They are compiling personal details, family links, and using facial recognition.  To what end? To stifle dissent; to trample our right to free speech.”

The office at White Cap is one of many ICE-related facilities in Chittenden County, which serves as the national headquarters for ICE intelligence gathering operations. The notorious Law Enforcement Support Center on Harvest Lane is home to ICE’s nationwide tip line, while at least 10 other nearby locations (totalling an estimated 400,000 square feet of office space) are used by DHS for data processing, surveillance, and administrative work. 

On Tuesday, the Williston Selectboard passed a resolution condemning ICE activities in the town, and several hundred protesters marched in the frigid temperature to denounce the ICE Call Center on Harvest Lane.

The elders participating in Thursday’s sit-in were not representatives of any official group or organization, but simply community members concerned about the safety of their fellow Vermonters. They expressed hope that their action would help others to find the courage necessary to get ICE out of Williston.

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This statement was read aloud as the start of the action:

“Every minute and a half, ICE kidnaps someone. All across the country, they are brutalizing and murdering innocent people, separating families, and terrorizing entire communities. That violence starts here, with the research and surveillance happening at White Cap Business Park’s ICE National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center. 

All across the country, people are blowing whistles to alert and protect each other from ICE raids. Today, we do the same. The disturbance caused by our presence here is only a tiny fraction of the life-changing disruption that ICE visits on Black and Brown communities every day. We know that our whistles can do nothing to bring back the 42 people who died in ICE detention or who were killed by ICE in the past year, or to bring home people who have already been deported. 

With this nonviolent protest, we hope to prevent future violence from ICE and help fellow Vermonters find the resolve needed to stand up for each other. 

Media contacts: 

Julie Macuga, juliemacuga@gmail.com/ Debbie Grossman, debbie50501vt@proton.me