Image by Ron Jacobs.
I got on the city bus relatively early on the morning of April, 14, 2025. The sun was shining, but the temperature was only a couple degrees above freezing, normal for this time of year in Vermont. Fifteen minutes later I got off, walked a couple blocks and joined a protest outside the building housing the federal courthouse in Burlington, VT. Between three and four hundred people were gathered, some holding Palestinian flags, some with handmade signs supporting free speech, others carried signs opposing ICE with varying degrees of vehemence. Still others carried US flags and signs decrying the trumpist attack on the Constitution. The demographics of the crowd were quite diverse, especially by Vermont standards. Young adults and old ones mixed together representing the growing diversity of humans calling Vermont home these days; refugees from various African nations, Latino and African-Americans, LBGTQ+, and so on. Jewish, Muslim, Christian and the rest of us. The only cops were several uniformed members of the federal protective services who operate under the direction of the department of homeland security. Who knows how many undercover were present.
The reason for the gathering was a hearing to determine the immediate fate of Rümeysa Öztürk, the graduate student and union member kidnapped off the street by masked ICE agents in Somerville, MA. Her crime? Writing an op-ed decrying Tufts actions around anti- genocide and Palestinian solidarity protests in spring 2024. Öztürk’s odyssey since then found her seeking her freedom in a Burlington VT courtroom. Her team of lawyers included some from the ACLU. The protest was organized by unions in Vermont and elsewhere in New England, and a number of Palestinian and anti- genocide groups organized as the Vermont coalition for Palestinian liberation. The protesters wanted her immediate release and an end to the harassment of immigrants and visa holders for their speech. The speeches from various members of the crowd reflected these concerns. As I wandered through the crowd, seeing friends and just talking with folks, I found the general sentiment to be that the federal government’s actions against immigrants—especially those against college students and staff—represented a serious escalation in the attacks on human and civil rights in the United States. Free speech advocates and Palestinian solidarity activists agreed with individuals allied with the local Migrant Justice group that these attacks needed to be nipped in the bud and that fascism seems an actuality in 2025.
I left the gathering a couple hours later while other awaited the decision of the judge inside. The decision awaits. Meanwhile, an Instagram post from the University of Vermont’s group Students for Justice in Palestine revealed that Columbia student and green card holder Mohsen Madawi was arrested at the immigration office in Colchester, VT. when he walked in for a scheduled appointment. At the same time, the national news let the world know that the man Kilmar Abrego Garcia who was mistakenly grabbed by ICE and sent to El Salvador’s heinous prisons will not be released.
This is what fascists do.
© Counter Punch