Two Separate Bias Incidents In Vermont, Two Disparate Responses

A screenshot from a video posted to Facebook that appears to show the man filming the video harassing two Latina women from New York as they recruit workers for their cleaning company in a Rutland City parking lot. (Elodie Reed/VPR)

Two separate incidents of racial harassment in recent months have revealed disparities in the way law enforcement agencies deal with “bias incidents,” according to the president of the Vermont chapter of the NAACP.

Last month, Gov. Phil Scott publicly apologized to an African American Vermonter who was harassed while driving a vehicle with New York license plates. Scott said the incident put a spotlight on the racism and xenophobia that could become exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, and he ordered Vermont State Police to investigate the encounter.

But another incident of harassment, captured on video in late March, is raising questions about how police deal with bias incidents. And according to the Tabitha Moore, head of the Vermont chapter of the NAACP, access to justice in Vermont can depend on where you live.

Read the rest of this story at Vermont Public Radio’s website.