Dear Editor,
It’s easy for clear-headed Vermonters to feel proud the morning after 1,600 Hands Off! demonstrations took place around the U.S. and the world on Saturday. Local TV stations showed huge crowds in Burlington and Montpelier, along with the more than 20 Vermont demonstrations showing up on the WCAX map Saturday night.
The Chester event, sponsored by the Chester Town Democratic Committee (CTDC), went off without a hitch, and surpassed our fondest hopes. The 100-plus people we had expected turned into more than 400 (a journalist counted) carrying signs, joyfully chanting things like “This is what democracy looks like,” and generally being glad to stand with people who believe that the Trump-Musk administration is as dangerous to democracy as had been expected.
So it was quite a surprise to come upon pro-Trump posts on social media describing demonstrators yelling at passing cars, taking all the parking places on the business side of the Green, and generally acting like “chickens” and “democRATS.” One person hoped that “the town thinks twice before allowing something like this again.”
That certainly wasn’t what I saw that day. We had sent attendees information about parking spots away from the Green, as well as a list of unacceptable behaviors, as well as telling the town office, police department, and ambulance service of our plans. Five CTDC officials wore green vests to help with any problems.
There was, of course, the occasional unfriendly finger from a passing driver, and the sad experience of watching the same Trump-flagged service truck pass one way then the other, honking back and forth for almost two hours. Some waved at him, others turned their backs. Other than that, it was a pretty calm morning.
The police chief – who stayed through the entire event – I spoke with thought so. And the drone photo on one of the negative postings showed a number of empty parking spots by the Green. The businesspeople I talked with were happy to have lots of customers that morning.
Oh, well. We live in a world of your-facts and my-facts, don’t we? I’m pleased to be able to say that, in this case, my facts are correct. The others’ are, as is so often the case, fake news, inventions made up by people who fear the truth.
Sincerely,
Nick Boke for the CTDC Communications Subcommittee