A large protest is expected on Friday afternoon at Taylor Park in Saint Albans.Officials are warning people to be aware of traffic delays. Schools in the area are being let out before noon because of it.Organizers are expecting up to 500 people to protest actions taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Some of the group will leave the park and go to the federal building for what they’re calling a peaceful sit-in. “We want, to the degree we can, close down that office for an hour, five hours, whatever it might be, and make it difficult for them to continue their illegal, immoral practices,” said Paul Markowitz, a Vermont ICE Out Alliance core team member. Protestors have a permit to be in the park. City manager Dominic Cloud said they’ve known about the rally for several weeks. “There are pretty regularly political events in Taylor Park, and there’s pretty regularly large events with crowds in Taylor Park, and many of the same principles apply,” he said. “How do you manage traffic? How do you manage people? What if this happens? A lot of contingencies.” Part of the planning involves creating space and time for protestors, so that no pressure could then lead to impulsive actions. That’s why, Cloud said, closing school early was necessary. “It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback it. The chief of police and I’ve been looking at it for weeks, and creating additional time and space by not having all the school kids walking through the middle of it at dismissal seems prudent. Folks are welcome to dissent with that decision,” he said.According to Markowitz, organizers have been in contact with St. Albans Police, Vermont State Police, and the superintendent so they could adjust their plans. “We actually changed our plans when we found out when the school lets out. That’s a huge congestion area right when we’re going to be there. So we changed some of our plans to accommodate that,” said Markowitz.The rally is set to start at noon on Friday at Taylor Park.There will be music and speakers ahead of the move to the federal building.
A large protest is expected on Friday afternoon at Taylor Park in Saint Albans.
Officials are warning people to be aware of traffic delays. Schools in the area are being let out before noon because of it.
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Organizers are expecting up to 500 people to protest actions taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Some of the group will leave the park and go to the federal building for what they’re calling a peaceful sit-in.
“We want, to the degree we can, close down that office for an hour, five hours, whatever it might be, and make it difficult for them to continue their illegal, immoral practices,” said Paul Markowitz, a Vermont ICE Out Alliance core team member.
Protestors have a permit to be in the park. City manager Dominic Cloud said they’ve known about the rally for several weeks.
“There are pretty regularly political events in Taylor Park, and there’s pretty regularly large events with crowds in Taylor Park, and many of the same principles apply,” he said. “How do you manage traffic? How do you manage people? What if this happens? A lot of contingencies.”
Part of the planning involves creating space and time for protestors, so that no pressure could then lead to impulsive actions.
That’s why, Cloud said, closing school early was necessary.
“It’s easy to Monday morning quarterback it. The chief of police and I’ve been looking at it for weeks, and creating additional time and space by not having all the school kids walking through the middle of it at dismissal seems prudent. Folks are welcome to dissent with that decision,” he said.
According to Markowitz, organizers have been in contact with St. Albans Police, Vermont State Police, and the superintendent so they could adjust their plans.
“We actually changed our plans when we found out when the school lets out. That’s a huge congestion area right when we’re going to be there. So we changed some of our plans to accommodate that,” said Markowitz.
The rally is set to start at noon on Friday at Taylor Park.
There will be music and speakers ahead of the move to the federal building.
