The stickers — which depict a sickle, the slogan “Better Dead Than Red” and Patriot Front’s web address — were affixed to the King Street side of the Turning Point Center building on South Winooski Avenue. The wall displays wayfinding signs for Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington, Migrant Justice, the Vermont Workers’ Center and 350Vermont, all of which have space in the building at 179 South Winooski.
After receiving a complaint, officers removed the stickers around 8 a.m. Wednesday, Det. Tom Chenette said.
“We tend to get a lot of calls about them,” Chenette said of such stickers. “They are absolutely bias-motivated and absolutely targeting these institutions.”
The Vermont Workers’ Center and Migrant Justice declined to comment. Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington and 350Vermont could not immediately be reached.
Patriot Front formed in the aftermath of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists it as a growing hate group whose “militant street action” is becoming more violent. The “image-obsessed organization … focuses on theatrical rhetoric and activism that can be easily distributed as propaganda for its chapters across the country,” according to the SPLC.
The group and its tactics are not new to the Queen City. They made headlines in February 2018 when a small, masked contingent chanting “blood and soil” marched on City Hall Park with a banner reading, “Reclaim America,” the Burlington Free Press reported.
The group had originally intended to rally at the Staples Plaza in South Burlington, but changed course when its plans leaked and a large crowd of anti-racism demonstrators showed there instead.
Recently, the stickers were placed at the Richmond park-and-ride lot and on newspaper boxes, including one belonging to Seven Days outside of the Greater Burlington YMCA. Police removed other stickers elsewhere in the city last week and receive calls about them on a biweekly basis, Chenette said.
The stickering activity is not considered criminal unless the adhesive damages the underlying surface, Chenette said.
“They have a pretty good understanding of where the line is and not to cross it criminally,” he said, noting the First Amendment technically protects the group’s preferred form of “speech.”
Mayor Miro Weinberger, however, made it clear in a February statement that the group should stay away because its views “are antithetical to Burlington’s commitment to be a welcoming, inclusive community.” Chenette suspects the group has hit the Queen City for exactly that reason.
“It’s sad, but I think they target Burlington because we are so inclusive,” he said. “They think they’re going to get the most press if they go after us because it will stir us up more than other places.”
Police encourage the public to report the group’s activity to aid in identifying those responsible. Members often wear masks and purposely avoid security cameras, Chenette said.
“We’re going to be looking to sit down and have a conversation with them,” Chenette said.
Correction, July 31, 2019: A previous version of this story misstated the phrase written on the stickers.
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CORRECTION: The article quotes the phrase as Better Red Than Dead, but it is actually Better Dead Than Red.
Good eye, @phuzzie! Thanks for catching the error. We’ve corrected the story.
These chuds hit Burlington because some of them live there. I’m sick of the PR lies that tries to make it out that they are not from vermont. Many are.
Trump’s Brownshirts are here . . . no surprise actually. Trump depends on weak minded bigots to stay in power. And the whiny GOPers complain about Antifa but say nothing about Right Wing thuggery. Must be more of those “Family Values” they love to brag about.
White supremacist my butt..these people are cowards.. there shouldn’t be any tolerance to this bs.thats right BS…these so called white supremacist better not come to the new north end.they will get their asses kicked…I have no tolerance for stupidity and ignorance
White supremacist my butt.these people are cowards.we should have a no tolerance policy for this bs…..these so called white supremacist have nothing better to do than spread their hate…its not the 1800s it’s the 21 century….get with the times you losers.
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/opinions/t…
Be careful.you you post as a source, when they themse6have been labeled a biased hate group
I think I saw a poorly/partially torn off one of these that had been stuck over some grafitti near my apt building. I’d rather see grafitti than oppressive hatred!
“The stickering activity is not considered criminal unless the adhesive damages the underlying surface, Chenette said. They have a pretty good understanding of where the line is and not to cross it criminally, he said, noting the First Amendment technically protects the group’s preferred form of “speech.”
But then:
“Were going to be looking to sit down and have a conversation with them, Chenette said. “
WHY? If they are engaged in legal and protected speech, what possible reason do the police have to seek them out and “have a conversation”? It sounds like the City wants to use the police to intimidate those whose views are not approved by the city. So less Law Enforcement, more Viewpoint Enforcement. And yes, I get it, the content is reprehensible, blah blah blah. But stupid people are going to believe stupid things just as they always have. Why now are we unleashing those who are tasked to uphold the law to shut down ideas we don’t like, and where does it end? Also, why in god’s name are on duty officers cleaning up private property?
Why are the cops cleaning up these posters? Shouldn’t the responsibility rest on the sign owner to remove items they object to from their signs?
Obliterating someone else’s signs is not just having your own opinion, it is trying to silence someone else’s opinion.
I’m hoping these folks are caught, and discouraged from doing this. They can put up their own signs, if they are not hate speech – but not on top of other signs.
“Patriot Front” indeed – it’s more like the Patriot’s Rear. Reclaiming America indeed. Immigrants complaining about other immigrants…
I don’t know anything about this Patriot Front group and probably don’t want to but if you want a real “Bias Motivated hate group” look no further than The Southern Poverty Law Center… The only thing it has to do with “law” is trying to manipulated it for use as a weapon against all of it’s enemies.
This group actually puts out “roll call videos” intended for the police to watch during roll call, so they can recognize who is an enemy of The Southern Poverty Law Center and how to handle them. Nothing Orwellian about that at all. Have to wonder how many departments actually use such bias motivating propaganda.
This article was illegitimate propaganda right from the title. This organization might be a violent organization centered in right wing ideology or it may embrace any other segment of the political spectrum. The article provided no evidence of ideology or practice other than the organization’s predisposition to legal vs illegal immigration and the fact that they chose to demonstrate their positions in a venue that was different from their originally planned place due to the presence of a potentially violent mob assembled at the original destination. I did not read any evidence of White Supremacy, whatever that is, in the article. The SPLC on the other hand is well documented as an organization clearly centered on bigoted ideology. I call BS on this article right from the headline.
Mr. Messing,
There is a whole lot wrong in your comment.
Obliterating someone else’s signs is not just having your own opinion, it is trying to silence someone else’s opinion. Agree, but please bear that in mind next time those on the left rip down posters, signs, etc. that they disagree with of find hateful.
I’m hoping these folks are caught, and discouraged from doing this. There is no caught as there was no illegal activity. As for how they would be discouraged, it sounds like you are advocating for the state to use its powers to punish views those in power dont like. We dont outlaw words, phrases, or ideas in this country, and that freedom is one of our greatest strengths.
They can put up their own signs, if they are not hate speech They can put up their own signs even if they are hate speech because hate speech is just someones opinion and has no bearing on what others are allowed to do. There are only two types of speech: protected speech, and that very narrow sliver of speech that is restricted and meets the standard for slander, fighting words, speech used in commission of a crime (ie fraud), imminent and credible threats, or child porn.
Again, this country is great enough that we refuse to outlaw ideas and words and instead expect more speech, not less, will effectively suppress the more extreme ideas.
Now we have to wonder if any of our police officers are members of this group.
@ Cashman
In responding to Messing, you say:
“There is no caught as there was no illegal activity.”
I support free speech (even disgusting speech) but you are incorrect about there being “no illegal activity.” They attached their posters to other people’s private property. Yes, that is a minor offense, but it is, in fact, illegal. Just as it’s illegal for an old self-righteous busybody to spraypaint over the Everybody Loves A Parade mural. It’s not the speech that is at issue, it’s the unauthorized marring of other people’s property.
“The stickering activity is not considered criminal unless the adhesive damages the underlying surface, Chenette said.”
“The stickering activity is not considered criminal unless the adhesive damages the underlying surface, Chenette said”
“The stickering activity is not considered criminal unless the adhesive damages the underlying surface, Chenette said.”.
What Chenette says is true. But you assume illegal means criminal. It doesn’t.
It’s illegal because it’s trespass to private property. https://www.google.com/search?q=What+is+a+… I may have a first amendment right to express my hateful ideas on a poster, but I don’t have the right to attach that poster to your property without your permission.
Hi, the article says these posters are not criminal unless they damage the underlying material. However, I reported an incident of postings to Detective Chenette a few weeks ago where the poster was covering city parking signage. It seems like it would be criminal to cover or block city signage and would allow the city to prosecute, can you please clarify this point with the city?
I think your making more of the distinction, if there even is any. If law enforcement policy is to ignore the activity as long as it doesn’t harm the underlying surface, it’s kind of a pedantic semantics argument.
Spurred on and inspired by a president who belongs in prison
That Burlington Police sticker-removal squad was very lucky to walk away in one piece!
Last time I checked the Black Lives Matters folks were encouragiing violence against police officers.
“Patriot Front” = ground of angry, white manchildren that never served a day in their lives, have no right to call themselves patriots.
To the poster above crying about BLM, why aren’t you paying attention to the Patriot Front too? Oh right, is it because of skin color?
I’ve been reading articles on this group with more interest lately. The Patriot Front put one of their smaller stickers on the base of the flag pole out at the Sand Bar causeway, right next to the 9/11 memorial. I have personal reasons for wanting it removed (a friend from college died on 9/11), but knowing that it’s challenging to navigate the apparently conflicting 1st Amendment rights of both Patriot Front and the property owners where they’re putting their stickers makes me think over the situation a bit more.
This was all awhile ago – my apologies for dropping out – my gmail account decided “dispatcher” comments were spam. It’s odd, as it had treated them as valid a hundred times. Hmmm. Stupid robots!
As far as my comment below – thanks to all who saw sense in it, and my best to those who tried to pick it to pieces. Some defended me – which came as a surprise. Couldn’t thank you before, but – thank you.
Hope we don’t get a lot more from the “PF” folks. Diversity, we need. Bigots, we don’t.