In latest attempt to charge March 11 ICE protesters, state police identify man accused of smashing police van window

State police have identified and cited a suspect they accused of smashing a police van window and injuring a trooper during the chaotic March 11 immigration raid and protest in South Burlington. 

Police issued aggravated disorderly conduct and simple assault citations Friday against Colin Wesley Palmer, 24, of Burlington, according to a news release. Both charges are misdemeanors. 

Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George, who previously declined to prosecute six other people cited for misdemeanors related to the March 11 raid, on Monday again declined to comment on the case, citing her eventual review of the citations. 

Vermont State Police had requested the public’s help earlier in June to identify a man they said threw a bottle at a law enforcement vehicle. Body camera video of the incident, reviewed by VTDigger, appears to show troopers leaving the Dorset Street scene when a person approaches the van and a glass bottle breaks the window. 

A trooper can be heard saying that glass had gotten into his eye. Police said the trooper suffered an eye injury due to the action. Damage to the van amounts to $500, according to police.

Palmer’s attorney, Robert Appel, said in an interview Monday that the citations were an “overcharge” and that the windows of police cars have a tendency to break easily. 

He also said an officer pepper sprayed Palmer while he was near the vehicle, which appears to be shown in the body camera footage, adding that when he was sprayed, Palmer had put his hands up. 

“State police use of force policy doesn’t provide for use of chemical spray under such circumstances,” Appel said. Statewide police policy states that aerosol agents such as pepper spray “may be utilized to address subjects who are actively resisting.”

The citation comes months after the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid near a Dorset Street home resulted in an hourslong standoff between police and protesters, which led to the arrest of six protesters, also on misdemeanor charges. 

George previously declined to prosecute any of those six cases, saying that while some protesters acted in ways “beyond civil disobedience,” law enforcement officers also “escalated” and “agitated” the situation. Of the six she declined to charge, one arrested by the Burlington Police was also cited for assault on a law enforcement officer. 

State and city officials have criticized George’s decision not to charge the six protesters. Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison and Vermont State Police Director Col. Matthew T. Birmingham wrote in a statement that the decision will “embolden people at similar events in the future to cross the line into criminal behavior, placing the public and law enforcement at greater risk of harm.” 

Appel, Palmer’s lawyer, said he is unsure whether George will prosecute this case, saying “each and every one is a separate decision.” 

Referring to George’s previous decisions not to prosecute, Appel said she “made a good call.”

“She’s a good prosecutor. She exercises her best professional judgment, and she’s pretty good in my view about separating the wheat from the chaff, and going after serious crime again,” Appel added. “From my perspective, as a defense attorney, I don’t see this as a serious crime.”

Police and protest activity during the protest became a flashpoint of tension on police use of force. While the state police received 25 use-of-force complaints related to the March 11 protest, a state police review concluded that no violations of the department’s use-of-force policy were found. 

Palmer is expected to be arraigned July 28 in Chittenden Superior criminal court in Burlington. 

A Vermont State Police spokesperson told VTDigger earlier this month that investigations into actions on the day of the raid continued. “VSP’s investigations into incidents that occurred March 11 have remained open and active, with detectives pursuing leads on multiple fronts related to the myriad occurrences that day,” said Adam Silverman, public information officer for the state police.

Read the story on VTDigger here: In latest attempt to charge March 11 ICE protesters, state police identify man accused of smashing police van window.