Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak speaks at a press conference with Shawn Burke, interim chief of the Burlington Police Department, not seen, in Burlington in April 2025. File photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger A Burlington man was charged this week with stalking and harassing Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, after he allegedly accosted her in public on multiple occasions and made her fear for her and her family’s safety. Ari Moskowitz, 40, pleaded not guilty Monday and was released on conditions that he not contact the mayor, or go within 300 feet of City Hall. Moskowitz runs a prominent social media account that he’s used to criticize the mayor’s policies. He’s also a common presence at city council meetings. Police had last month issued a no trespass order banning Moskowitz from Burlington City Hall for 180 days. Robert Kaplan, Moskowitz’s attorney, described the case as a First Amendment issue and said his client has the right to address his grievances to his elected representatives. “It appears that the mayor prefers to insulate herself from the concerns of constituents that she doesn’t agree with,” Kaplan said in a phone interview. “She described herself as essentially running away from accountability, and from our point of view, she is weaponizing the criminal justice system in order to insulate herself from having to answer uncomfortable questions.” A police affidavit describes Moskowitz as pursuing Mulvaney-Stanak in a series of aggressive incidents over the last year that left her fearing for her safety. He began complaining to the mayor’s office in the spring of 2025, after an off-duty security guard employed by the private contractor that patrols City Hall had posted on social media about the War in Gaza, according to the police affidavit. Moskowitz is a vocal supporter of Israel.  From there, he allegedly accosted the mayor in several incidents, demanding she meet with him about his complaint. During a neighborhood assembly meeting in January, he reportedly stood in front of a doorway to block the mayor from leaving, according to court documents. And during a parade in Burlington last month, Mulvaney-Stanak said Moskowitz confronted her while she was with her daughter. Moskowitz allegedly yelled at the mayor, demanding that she meet with him, according to court records. “When she explained that she was with her daughter and it was not an appropriate time he proceeded to yell expletives at her before disengaging,” court documents read. In a separate incident, Moskowitz spotted the mayor in City Hall Park, confronted her again and threatened to protest outside her house “and bring a hundred drug users” with him, according to the charging documents. Shawn Burke, Burlington’s interim police chief, describes in the affidavit a June 11 incident, in which the mayor entered a restaurant in Burlington but left shortly after spotting Moskowitz. Moskowitz then followed her into a nearby bakery, where she locked herself inside a bathroom to hide from him before the bakery owner forced Moskowitz to leave the establishment. Mulvaney-Stanak was “visibly upset” and reported the incident to Burke later that day, according to court documents. In a statement, Mulvaney-Stanak said that communities across the country “have seen an increase in threatening and harassing behavior directed at elected officials and public servants.” “This trend is deeply concerning — not only for those who serve, but for the health of our civic institutions and public life,” she said. “We cannot accept this behavior as an unavoidable part of public service.” According to court records, Mulvaney-Stanak began carrying pepper spray and has had a city staffer escort her in public. She has since installed security systems at her residence and has developed an emergency getaway plan with her family, she says. Kaplan, asked about some of the more aggressive allegations described in court documents, said that those are the mayor’s “subjective reports about her perception of those events,” and said the characterization of those events is in dispute. “She elected to be mayor, she put herself in that position by asking the public to put her in that position,” he said. “So there are certain annoyances that are attendant to that position, including having to deal with constituents that you don’t like.” The criminal case is being prosecuted by Franklin County State’s Attorney Bram Kranichfeld. Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George recused herself from the case. Read the story on VTDigger here: Burlington man charged with stalking, harassing Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. ...read more read less