Wednesday, May 8, 2019
Hashim handed in his resignation on Monday, citing a need to stay in his legislative district. He told Seven Days that he's accepted a job as a clerk at Costello, Valente & Gentry, a Brattleboro law firm.
“I’ll be doing the law office study program and in four years, as long as I pass the bar exam, I’ll be an attorney,” he said in an interview Wednesday evening.
Announcing the change on Facebook, the 30-year-old lawmaker said it was the most difficult decision of his life, but he had to resign from the force in order to fulfill his role as a lawmaker.
Tags: Nader Hashim , Vermont State Police , Department of Public Safety , legislator , Vermont House , Web Only , Image
Friday, May 3, 2019
Burlington police conducted internal investigations of both incidents using out-of-state experts, which resulted in suspension without pay for one of the arresting officers, Chief Brandon del Pozo said. His department also apprised the Chittenden County State's Attorney's office and the city police commission, he said.
Tags: Burlington Police , lawsuit , excessive force , Brandon del Pozo , Jason Bellavance , Cory Campbell , Joseph Corrow , Web Only , Image , Video
Wednesday, May 1, 2019
But on Wednesday, the conversation about the pot bill left the topic of cannabis entirely. House Transportation Committee chair Curt McCormack (D-Burlington) is trying to tack a new seat belt law onto S.54, the bill that would establish a regulated marijuana market in Vermont.
McCormack wants to make Vermont’s seat belt law a “primary enforcement” matter, meaning officers could stop drivers for not wearing a belt. Currently, seat belts are required by law, but police can only ticket drivers for a violation as a “secondary” offense during a traffic stop; drivers cannot legally be pulled over for just a seat belt infraction.
Tags: Cannabeat , Tim Ashe , saliva , Curt McCormack , Phil Scott , cannabis , marijuana , tax and regulate , road safety , roadside test , Web Only , Image
Monday, April 29, 2019
City councilors had hoped to get answers from Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo about their intervention efforts but heard more of the same during the discussion hosted in a packed City Hall conference room.
“The chief and I have been questioned again and again by members of the media … about the actions that took place here. We have shared as much as we can about that,” Weinberger said. “The attorney general does not want the facts of the case discussed any further.”
Tags: Burlington , CityPlace , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington City Council , Brandon del Pozo , Web Only , Image
Previously unreported court records show that, by his own account, Campbell initiated physical contact with Kilburn by grabbing the disabled man's arm as he stepped out of his SUV, in an attempt to handcuff him.
Kilburn then punched the officer using his free arm, hitting him in the jaw — a blow Campbell rated as three out of 10 on a pain scale. Campbell reported landing three punches in return, all to Kilburn's right eye, sending him to the ground.
"I placed Kilburn into handcuffs and observed Kilburn to be bleeding heavily from his right eye," Campbell wrote.
Tags: Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington Police Department , use of force , UVM Medical Center , Web Only , Image
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
The Burlington police union sued in state court Monday on behalf of Officer Cory Campbell to force city officials to hand over bodycam footage, surveillance video and other documents related to the altercation outside the University of Vermont Medical Center emergency department.
Tags: Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , Burlington Police Department , City of Burlington , Rich Cassidy , bodycam , public records , Vermont State Police , Burlington Police Officers' Association , Web Only , Image
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Weinberger's chief of staff, Jordan Redell, texted, called and emailed the governor's office on the morning of April 10, just as Vermont State Police were preparing to announce that the state medical examiner classified Douglas Kilburn's death as a homicide, the emails state.
"She was energetically reaching out trying to have us intervene to pause the release," Jason Gibbs, chief of staff for Gov. Phil Scott, wrote later that day to the heads of the Department of Public Safety and the Vermont State Police.
"That does not feel right to me, at any level," he wrote in another internal email.
Tags: Miro Weinberger , Jason Gibbs , Douglas Kilburn , Cory Campbell , Thomas Anderson , autopsy findings , medical examiner , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
State police announced last week that the medical examiner had deemed Douglas Kilburn's death a homicide. Earlier that morning, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo had contacted the state's top health official with "concerns" about the quality of the medical examiner's work and suggested that his conclusion might be "amended," emails obtained through Vermont's public records law show.
"I have conferred with the mayor and we are in agreement in requesting clarification of these findings before they are made public," del Pozo wrote to Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine.
Tags: Douglas Kilburn , Brandon del Pozo , Burlington Police , medical examiner , Steven Shapiro , City of Burlington , autopsy , Certification of Death , Web Only , Image
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
The March death of a 54-year-old man who'd been in a fistfight with a Burlington cop was a homicide, officials said Wednesday.
Vermont State Police are still investigating the encounter between Douglas Kilburn and Burlington police officer Cory Campbell, but a death certificate released Wednesday lists "skull fractures due to blunt impact" as a contributor to Kilburn's death.
Details about the March 11 altercation are limited to what various police groups have asserted in press releases and a description Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo gave at a Wednesday press conference.
According to state police, Kilburn assaulted Campbell in the parking lot outside of the University of Vermont Medical Center "before the officer was able to gain control of the suspect." Kilburn was treated at UVM Medical Center for injuries and released on March 12.
He was found dead at his New North End apartment two days later.
While the death was classified as a homicide, Vermont Chief Medical Examiner Steven Shapiro was unable to determine how, precisely, Kilburn died. He instead listed multiple "contributing causes" including cardiac disease, diabetes, obesity and the skull fractures.
Tags: Burlington , police , Cory Campbell , Douglas Kilburn , Web Only , Image
Friday, March 29, 2019
Chittenden Superior Court Judge Kevin Griffin this week threw out a hate crime charge against Christopher Hayden, writing that harassing a public official is protected by the First Amendment.
Griffin dismissed a count of disturbing the peace by phone that stemmed from numerous racist messages Hayden sent to City Councilor Ali Dieng's government email address.
The state has filed seven charges against Hayden since October, including hate crimes for his targeting of Dieng, Mayor Miro Weinberger and Police Chief Brandon del Pozo.
Tags: Christopher Hayden , First Amendment , protected speech , racism , Ali Dieng , Miro Weinberger , Web Only , Image