Attorney General Under Fire for Charging ICE Protesters

Fall Drive: Last week to give! Join the 6100+ Super Readers who support your paper. ♥ Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark is taking heat from fellow Democrats over her decision to prosecute protesters who were arrested during a July demonstration against federal immigration authorities. The protesters blocked entrances of an office complex in Williston where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement runs a surveillance center, then refused to leave when state troopers arrived. Twelve of those protesters, ranging in age from 20 to 74, pleaded not guilty on Thursday morning to misdemeanor charges of unlawful protest. An 18-year-old’s case was referred to juvenile court. State Treasurer Mike Pieciak and Senate Majority Leader Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast) called on Clark to dismiss the charges. “Prosecutors have discretion over which cases to charge,” Pieciak wrote. “They regularly choose not to charge cases in the interests of justice or to preserve scarce government resources.” “Our courts are already backlogged with real threats to public safety, and this is not what our top prosecutor should be prioritizing,” Ram Hinsdale wrote. Seven Days broke the news on Tuesday that Clark would prosecute the 13 protesters, who were arrested during a July 24 sit-in demonstration.

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