ICE agents and the local police department in South Burlington, Vermont, reacted violently to protesters who were trying to prevent the immigration officers from taking a man into custody. The episode ended with police using tear gas on the protesters, which outraged locals.
In a video shared on social media, it is possible to see the incident unfold. Over a hundred anti-ICE protesters are on the street by dusk, surrounding several cars. Immigration agents try to push them out of the way, and when that fails, the South Burlington police use tear gas. This causes chaos, with some protesters pushed aside while others continue to confront the agents.
Before the violence erupted, protesters had been surrounding a house targeted by ICE for hours. According to reports from local media outlets, the immigration agency was looking for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, a Mexican native who was removed from the United States in 2022 and allegedly reentered the country illegally.
The agents eventually broke down the door and took their target into custody, prompting protesters to surround their cars to prevent them from leaving. That is when the local police department used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
South Burlington Locals are Outraged by Local Police and ICE’s Violence
On social media, South Burlington locals were upset by how the local police reacted to the protest: “They’re going to bully Vermont the same way they bullied Minnesota.”
Viewers also noted that “it is always wild to me that tear gas is literally banned in warfare under the Geneva Convention, yet police are allowed to casually deploy it at point-blank range against their own citizens.” Some commenters doubled down on that sentiment, saying, “We need to ban the use of tear gas and launch a national investigation into all police forces.”
Others praised the protesters’ actions, saying that “tear gas is no joke, the fact that some protesters didn’t move from blocking the vehicle is some real dedication.”
If ICE continues operating in South Burlington, however, agents should expect the resistance to continue. As one netizen puts it, “Local PD? Gigantic mistake on their part. This is a very involved and motivated community.”
