A panel of lawmakers hears from protesters in the House chamber on March 31, 2026. Photo by Charlotte Oliver/VTDigger. MONTPELIER — Protesters told lawmakers Tuesday they were choked, pepper sprayed and dragged across the pavement by state and local police during last month’s immigration enf orcement operation in South Burlington. About 60 people who spoke at the public hearing said local and state police violently assaulted protesters who were not instigating violence. Some who testified during the hearing, which brought about 200 people to the Vermont House chamber, also said that local and state police violated Vermont policy by assisting federal immigration authorities.  “What I witnessed was 100% initiation and escalation of violence by state police,” said Sherri Wormser, who said she attended the March 11 protest nearly all day.  On Wednesday at the governor’s weekly press conference, Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison said that after hearing protester accounts, she wants to take time to “process it and let it percolate.”  “We have a robust internal affairs process, and we invite people to make complaints,” she said.  The hearing was called by lawmakers on the House and Senate judiciary committees, who have probed the high-profile immigration operation in Vermont’s second-largest city.  Protester accounts came nearly two weeks after state and local law enforcement officials largely defended their officers’ conduct and blamed “agitators” for any instances of violence. On Tuesday, many protesters contradicted those assertions by police.  Ahead of the protester hearing, lawmakers were unsure what immediate action — if any — they might take after listening to both sides. On Tuesday, in front of the crowd, some speakers had demands.  Will Lambek, an organizer with the immigrant rights group Migrant Justice, asked the Senate to use its legal power to subpoena witnesses and evidence related to the event. Big Hartman, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, asked lawmakers to greenlight an investigation by the commission that would make all evidence available to the public.  Those demands come after both the South Burlington and Burlington police departments said they will not yet release officers’ body camera footage from that day, Vermont Public reported. One police officer from Burlington is under investigation regarding use of force. The Vermont Department of Public Safety, which houses the state police, is separately evaluating its officers’ conduct.  On March 11, federal immigration agents were looking for Deyvi Daniel Corona-Sanchez, but  — in a case of mistaken identity — agents confronted and chased another man they believed was Corona-Sanchez. Federal agents said the man they were pursuing ran into a house on Dorset Street in South Burlington.  As agents arrived at the house, protesters gathered outside and attempted to prevent immigration officials from entering. Once agents obtained a warrant to enter the house, state police helped remove protesters in front of the door, allowing agents to arrest three people inside.  Tensions between hundreds of protesters and dozens of officers at the scene escalated throughout the day, with law enforcement personnel eventually throwing flashbang grenades and firing chemical agents into the crowd.  Federal immigration officials did not detain the man they sought, and all of the people detained have since been released.  READ MORE Jess Shapiro, who lives in Burlington and works on Dorset Street, told lawmakers Tuesday that a state trooper choked her until she lost consciousness around 6 p.m. that night. Shapiro was standing in the street, linking arms with fellow protesters, when a state trooper tried to pry apart her fingers, she said.  “He then pushed my left shoulder down and with his left hand wrapped his fingers around my throat, pulled me into him and squeezed until I began to lose consciousness,” Shapiro said.  Sean O’Hearn, of Ferrisburgh, said he had a similar experience outside the Dorset Street house. “I was choked by a Vermont state trooper with such force I pulled a metal railing out of the concrete foundation off that porch,” O’Hearn said.  His voice sounded different, he said, due to bruising of his trachea. O’Hearn said he didn’t know which officer choked him because many state troopers covered their faces with masks and failed to display their badges, names or identifying numbers.  “We must end the culture of cover-ups,” O’Hearn said.  About a dozen protesters similarly criticized local and state police who they said were not clearly identifiable — or visibly distinguishable from immigration agents. Many urged lawmakers to pass a bill, S.208, that would largely unmask law enforcement operating in Vermont and require officers to display their name or identifying number.  Morrison said previously that her department is working to make state police officers visibly distinguishable from immigration agents.  Besides recounting acts of violence, dozens who spoke Tuesday said state and local police violated Vermont’s fair and impartial policing policy, which generally bars officers from “facilitating” civil immigration enforcement.  Lambek said police clearly coordinated with federal agents. He called previous statements from law enforcement officials an example of “victim blaming and outright misdirection.”  Other protesters said local law enforcement not only facilitated the immigration operation but defended federal agents by raising their fists to protesters.  “If the only thing that you have is a hammer,” said Cynthia Cook, a professional mediator who was at the protest most of the day, “everything looks like a nail.” Read the story on VTDigger here: Protesters tell lawmakers they were choked, assaulted by officers during South Burlington immigration operation. ...read more read less