The two people arrested earlier this month for vandalizing the controversial “Everyone Loves a Parade” mural in Burlington have had their case referred to the Burlington Community Justice Center and will not go through the court system.
Eric Maier, 32, was scheduled to be arraigned in Chittenden County Superior Court on Thursday but did not appear. Margaux Higgins, 21, of Burlington was scheduled to appear next week.
Maier and Higgins were arrested and Maier faced a misdemeanor and a felony charge while Higgins was charged with being an accessory to the crime.
After Maier did not appear for his scheduled court appearance, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George told VTDigger the case had been moved to the Burlington Community Justice Center’s restorative justice panel.
Cases are referred to the Burlington Community Justice Center in three ways: as alternative justice, where the referral comes from the Burlington Police Department; as reparative probation, in which referrals come from the criminal court as part of a sentencing order signed by the judge; and as rapid intervention community court, in which the referral comes from the State’s Attorney’s office.
George said the state’s attorney’s office referred the case to the Burlington Community Justice Center because it would rather move through a restorative justice framework on a case such as this.
“if Mr. Maier acknowledges and accepts responsibility for the role he is alleged to have played in defacing the mural, the steps he would have to take through the restorative justice process could have a meaningful and lasting impact,” George said.
The mural, located just off the Church Street Marketplace pedestrian mall, was vandalized twice in October. Police estimated the damage at between $5,000 and $10,000. Police say the damage is severe enough that the mural may not be able to be repaired.
Maier had posted a photo on Facebook of the damage to the mural that he claimed a friend who saw it the previous night had sent him.
“The (basic, genocidey) mural was edited again last night, on Halloween,” Maier wrote.
Community activists and three city councilors have called for the immediate removal of the mural, which they say is exclusionary of people of color who live in Burlington and the Abenaki nation.
In October, the city council set an August 2022 deadline for removal of the mural, which will allow the city to live up to its agreement with the mural’s artist and sponsors.
The city will be adding a plaque explaining that the mural is not representative of the city’s community.
Earlier this week, Mayor Miro Weinberger commended the police on making the arrests and said the process that lead to the 2022 deadline to take down the mural was a compromise reached after a robust community discussion.
“I think it was really wrong for a couple of individuals to take it into their own hands to defy that community decision and try to impose their own will on this issue,” Weinberger said, “I’m satisfied the police did their job here and made it clear that this kind of vigilante behavior is not right and it’s not going to be accepted here.”
Weinberger said the city was exploring options to repair the mural but was increasingly hopeful the mural would be able to be fully prepared.
The mayor’s office said it would not comment at this time on the vandalism case being moved to the Burlington Community Justice Center.
This is the second time in 2018 the state has charged someone for vandalizing the mural. Earlier this year, the state charged activist Albert Petrarca with unlawful mischief after he spray painted “OFF THE WALL” on a plaque alongside the mural—that case was dismissed by the state.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., decried the vandalization of the mural when asked about it in early November and referenced the earlier Petrarca case.
“I was surprised the last time that it was defaced and someone bragged about it and wasn’t charged,” Leahy said, “When I was state’s attorney, if you destroyed property, no matter what it was, and you got caught, you had to pay for it.”
When asked for comment on the new developments in the vandalism case, David Carle, a Leahy spokesperson said “he doesn’t get involved in such cases.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: Mural vandal cases sent to restorative justice panel.