Hundreds of UVM students joined Burlington protest in outcry for firing of BPD cops

Masses of UVM students joined community members as they marched down Church street wearing all black Wednesday night chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ in the eighth day of protest calling for police reform in Burlington.

Hundreds of young Burlington community members joined the multi-day protest during its daily march at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 1 from Battery Park to City Hall. 

The protest called once again for the firing of three Burlington police officers as it entered its eighth consecutive day which saw one of its highest turnouts yet.

Harmony Edosomwan, a UVM student and organizer of the protest, acknowledged the overwhelming presence of UVM students in the crowd, urging them to do more. 

“Your responsibility is to bring more people here. Go into your dorm, let people know that this is happening every day until these cops are fired.”  Edosomwan said from the steps of City Hall, overlooking hundreds of protesters. 

Many members of the crowd held up signs with the names of three Burlington Police officers who were each involved in controversial use-of-force incidents. Speakers and organizers stressed that they would not stop until the three cops are fired. 

The three police officers are Jason Bellavance, Cory Campbell and Joseph Corrow. All three are named in federal lawsuits alleging brutality, according to a Sept. 2 VTDigger article.

According to the article, Corrow tackled a Black man to the ground knocking him unconscious in a 2018 incident. Campbell punched a white man causing injuries from which he later died in an April 2019 incident. 

Bellavance came under fire in early 2019 after video surfaced showing cops knocking two Black men unconscious outside a bar in Burlington. Bellavance faced discipline for “unnecessary or unreasonable” use of force, according to a May 3, 2019 SevenDays article. 

“We, the community, have been peaceful. It is the cops that are the danger to us, and that is why we are here today.” Edosomwan said. “We are not only focussed on these three cops, but on the entire Burlington Police Department itself. Every cop must be examined.” 

As protesters lined up in Battery Park to march to city hall, organizers asked white allies to hold signs bearing the names of the three officers, and asked members of the BIPOC community to hold signs bearing the names of victims of police brutality. 

Many UVM students that attended the protest said they were there to fight against larger issues of racism in Vermont and the U.S.

“This is my third day here and I have been trying to be as involved as possible because I know there’s an incredibly long history of racism in Vermont,” said Zoe Kennedy, a Junior at UVM. “And it’s not the job of people of color to fix that, it’s people with privilege like I have.” 

Students and speakers also stressed that UVM has work to do when it comes to racial justice. 

“Another thing that’s happening on UVM’s campus is that UVM’s Black Lives Matter is calling on UVM to break all ties with Burlington Police Department.” Endosowman said to the crowd. “Understand that UVM’s culture allows for black and brown people to be marginalized on campus but y’all need to change that.” 

UVM recently restarted “quality of life patrols” conducted by the Burlington Police Department in UVM student neighborhoods to address off campus partying and enforce COVID-19 safety rules.

UVM had funded these patrols for this past summer, but reversed its decision in June following student outcry. 

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced in an Aug. 18 press conference that the patrols would resume and that UVM would share the cost of them with the city. 

Sophomore Nick Bortzfield and Junior Danny Watson who came to the march said they think UVM should take action to defund its own campus police. 

“Their cops don’t need guns, they don’t need cops period,” Watson said. “A fully armed police force seems like wild overkill.”

Bortzfield said he’s been coming to the protest roughly every other day since they started last week, and said he thinks they’ve been growing in size.

“This is the biggest night I’ve seen, and having all of these students flooding into this definitely helps.”

Kennedy said she also thinks UVM should be listening to different coalitions on campus of people of color, like student groups’ demand to raise the Black Lives Matter flag permanently on campus. 

“Even just small symbolism things like that are important to show inclusivity, especially on a campus that’s so white,” said Zoe Kennedy, a Junior at UVM.