A number of Vermont businesses have announced they are fully or partially closed today as part of a national protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Brattleboro Books, a used bookstore, closed in participation with the national strike.
“We know this won't solve our problems in this country but it takes each of us showing a willingness to step out of our everyday normal activities to sow the seeds of change,” Brattleboro Books said in a statement on social media. “What is happening is not okay, and that is simply not up for debate.”
Railyard Apothecary, an herbal co-op in Burlington, also closed for the day, saying, “We share in the grief and the outrage about what we've been witnessing over the past several weeks and support the calls for ICE to leave Minnesota as well as Vermont and everywhere else.”
Santiago’s restaurant in Burlington closed based on the result of an employee vote, according to a social media post: “They have chosen to stand in solidarity.”
Katya d'Angelo, owner of Bridgeside Books in Waterbury, wrote on social media that closing would mean giving up a day of sales, and she initially questioned if participating would make a difference. But in the end, d’Angelo opted to close.
“I want to look back at this moment in history and know I tried things,” d’Angelo said in a statement posted to the business’s social media.
Some businesses remained open but pledged to donate a portion of sales to statewide organizations such as Migrant Justice and the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, or to organizations in Minnesota that are helping people affected by ICE arrests.
Other businesses planned to close for a portion of the afternoon so that staff could participate in protests being held around the state.
Mad River Distillers’ Burlington tasting room is located across the street from the site of today’s Burlington protest. President Mimi Buttenheim said the tasting room would close from 3-5 p.m. to allow their employees to take part in the rally.
“We employ and do business with people in our community who have been directly impacted by immigration enforcement and federal policy,” Buttenheim said in an email. “It felt important to us to support the rally and to allow our employees the opportunity to take part if they wished.”
Like several other businesses that are open today, they are donating a portion of their sales to the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund.
Planned protests Friday included actions at 2 p.m. in Manchester, 3 p.m. in Burlington, Montpelier and Hardwick, 4 p.m. in Barre, 4:30 p.m. in Richmond, and 7 p.m. in Brattleboro. Additional protests were planned Saturday at 10 a.m. in Bennington and noon in Woodstock and Randolph.
Analog Cycles in Poultney also planned a memorial bike ride Saturday afternoon in honor of Alex Pretti, who was killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.
