The Rake Vermont

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In the face of continued oppression and assault on transgender existence, organizers pressed for those in attendance to continue the fight, while also outwardly expressing joy in the face of rising transphobia and laws targeting trans people: rakevt.org/2026/04/07/ver…

Learn more: rakevt.org/2026/03/18/loc…

On multiple occasions, state and local police worked with ICE agents to detain and arrest protectors, as shown by photos and videos taken from Dorset Street last week.

A Vermont State Police officer, so far unidentified, is accused of choking one of the protectors to unconsciousness after threatening to break her fingers. The protector’s accusation, w/corroboration by a nurse who examined her, was heard by the South Burlington City Council.

“I’ve always had a relatively positive experience with officers in the past, and I was genuinely relieved in the beginning when I showed up around 9:00 in the morning. And by the time I left at 6:00 or so in the evening, I had lost all trust in armed officers.”

In a timeline of events with photo and video evidence, ICE officers considered canceling the raid before local and state police showed up to assist them and inflict violence on those protecting the Dorset Street house on March 11. rakevt.org/2026/03/18/loc…

We interviewed a dozen Vermonters who were at Dorset Street, who were unanimous in their assessments: the majority of violence inflicted on them was by Vermont State Police, Burlington Police, and South Burlington Police. rakevt.org/2026/03/18/loc…

This afternoon, Vermonters staged a protest and sit-in at White Cap Business Park in Williston, where the Department of Homeland Security houses an ICE digital surveillance facility as part of many anti-ICE actions in Vermont during the last week. rakevt.org/2026/01/22/ver…

Scott has framed return to office as an “equity issue” to pit state workers against “everyday Vermonters” as if state employees are not also the latter. All the while Scott acts in accordance with his worldview, and bails out commercial landlords. rakevt.org/2025/11/25/phi…

The return to office mandate places the burden of longer commute times and higher costs onto Vermont state employees, and Vermont taxpayers, all while Scott demands more spending cuts, particularly to education. rakevt.org/2025/11/25/phi…

With Vermont Governor Phil Scott forcing state employees back to in-office work, among the beneficiaries is a personal friend of Scott, set to earn over $400,000 per year in state dollars after a lease deal was struck in Waterbury earlier this month. rakevt.org/2025/11/25/phi…

Read part 3 here: rakevt.org/2025/11/25/mid…

Read Part 1 here: rakevt.org/2025/11/18/mid…

Middlebury College is Failing its Transgender Students Part 2: The Overdose of Evelyn Mae Sorensen, a Student and Trans Woman, Exposed Middlebury College’s Priorities rakevt.org/2025/11/20/the…

Read part 3: rakevt.org/2025/11/25/mid…

Read Part 2: rakevt.org/2025/11/20/the…

Part 1 of a 3-part series, Middlebury College is Failing its Transgender Students: Middlebury College Student Lia Smith Battled Transphobia On and Off Campus Before Her Death. Parts 2-3 will be released in the coming days. rakevt.org/2025/11/18/mid…

Read part 2: rakevt.org/2025/11/20/the…

Read part 1: rakevt.org/2025/11/18/mid…

Part 3 of our series: Middlebury College’s Alexander Hamilton Forum Regularly Platforms Transphobes, Bigots, and Authoritarians with No Consequences rakevt.org/2025/11/25/mid…

As The Rake reported last year, ICE’s enforcement actions and deportations have always been a bipartisan affair. ICE shows no signs of letting up, but neither do the Vermonters who oppose it. A larger rally is planned for Wednesday, December 10. rakevt.org/2025/11/21/ice…

ICE gained power long before Trump. Flags outside ICE offices were at half mast, in observance of Vice Pres. Dick Cheney's death. Cheney and the rest of the George W. Bush Admin were architects of ICE, which was established in 2003 as part of the new Dept. of Homeland Security.

Dozens of Vermonters rallied and raised a ruckus this morning to protest the planned expansion of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Williston.