A Somali flag raised at a Vermont school sparked threats and harassment
WINOOSKI, Vt. — After a Somali flag went up last week in a show of solidarity, the district received a flood of racist calls, voicemails, and online messages directed at students and staff.
The flag was displayed by the Winooski School District starting December 5 to acknowledge the roughly 9% Somali-descent student population and to offer a moment of normalcy amid a surge of national racist rhetoric. Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria, a Nicaraguan immigrant, said the gesture was well-received by many students and families who felt it carried meaningful support.
The display featured the Somali flag alongside Vermont’s state flag and beneath the U.S. flag at a campus that houses K–12 classrooms and administrative offices. Somali students cheered and expressed how much the flag meant to them, according to Chavarria.
But soon the district faced a torrent of intimidation. Calls, voicemails, and social media posts targeted district personnel and students. To shield staff from harassment, some phone lines and the district website were temporarily shut down. Chavarria noted that some videos of the flag-raising were circulated without the full context—specifically, the U.S. and Vermont flags remained displayed—on right-leaning platforms, which distorted the scene.
“Our staff, our administrators, and our community are overwhelmed, and they are being viciously attacked. The hate-filled content is beyond deplorable,” Chavarria remarked on Tuesday.
Mukhtar Abdullahi, a multilingual liaison who supports Somali-speaking families, emphasized that no person is ‘garbage’ based on origin. He said students worried about the safety of their immigrant parents.
Despite the threats, Abdullahi affirmed the district’s strong sense of community and his gratitude for being part of it.
Law enforcement is assisting with investigations, and additional police presence has been arranged at school sites as a precaution. Winooski lies near Burlington, about 93 miles (150 kilometers) south of Montreal.
A White House spokesperson attributed the threats to individuals unrelated to President Trump’s remarks, stating that those comments do not reflect the president or the country’s values.
In related news, federal authorities have begun an immigration-enforcement operation in Minnesota targeting unlawfully present Somali nationals. The president has claimed those individuals contribute little to society and should not be in the United States, a stance that Minnesota officials have publicly disputed. The city’s mayor notes that many Somalis in Minnesota are U.S. citizens by birth and have started businesses, created jobs, and enriched the city culturally.
Chavarria noted that, as district leader, he could authorize the flag display for up to a week without formal school-board approval. The district also hosted an event featuring Somali cuisine and intends to continue celebrating its diversity as part of the school community.
“I felt sorrow for the students, the families, and the children under my care. My duty is to ensure they belong and feel safe in this country, in this district, and in this school,” he said.
Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
