"On 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 in Williston VT, home of ICE’s National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center.

They 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.

For the next 3.5 hours, they sat together in silence, pausing every 90 seconds to read the name of someone killed in ICE custody, followed by a loud whistle blast.

Williston Police arrived at around 1:30pm, and asked protesters to leave and stop making noise. 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, several DHS agents approached the group and threatened to charge them with Class C federal misdemeanors but did not actually do so, likely because they lacked authority to do so. The agents attempted to physically remove the elders and carry them away from the doors, but the group continued to exercise their right to protest by walking over and sitting back down. Eventually, the agents left.

The group continued their protest with banners and singing until the sun began setting, 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.”

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 nerve center for ICE 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 risking arrest in Thursday’s sit-in were not representatives of any official group or organization, but simply community members concerned about the safety of their neighbors. They expressed hope that their action would help others to find the courage necessary to get ICE out of Williston."

Press Release by Julie Macuga, juliemacuga@gmail.com