Claim:
An image collage of six police booking photos circulating online in September 2026 authentically depicts Vermont faith leaders arrested following a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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<p class="fact_check_info_description">The protest involved a diverse group of religious leaders, including a Quaker, two Protestant pastors, a Unitarian Universalist minister, a Methodist pastor, an Episcopalian priest, and an Episcopalian archdeacon.</p>
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<p>In September 2026, social media users shared a collage featuring six mug shots, asserting that the individuals pictured were part of a group of seven Vermont faith leaders arrested after demonstrating against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).</p>
<p>The collage gained traction across platforms like <a href="https://perma.cc/KKY2-ELJB">Threads</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/interfaithalliance/posts/pfbid08WGhgiz5JocB8FqC2c3sfsukC9C6bUmhZpM3k4RSVygJCVapF7A8kFEh4TWpz3jCl">Facebook</a> (<a href="https://media.snopes.com/2026/09/facebook_image_of_faith_leader_mugshots.png">screenshotted</a>).</p>
<p>Verification confirms that these six mug shots are genuine and accurately portray the faith leaders taken into custody following the ICE protest. Their booking photos are publicly accessible via the Vermont State Police <a href="https://vsp.vermont.gov/public#:~:text=VSP%20News%20Releases%20Blog">official</a> news releases <a href="https://vtstatepolice.blogspot.com/2026/09/vsp-arrests-seven-people-on-trespassing.html">page</a>, and multiple participants verified the sequence of events.</p>
<p>Consequently, the claim has been rated as true.</p>
<p>A seventh participant, a Quaker named Catherine Bock, was also arrested during the demonstration, though her <a href="https://vtstatepolice.blogspot.com/2026/09/vsp-arrests-seven-people-on-trespassing.html#:~:text=Court%20in%20Burlington.-,Catherine%20Bock,-Earl%20Kooperkamp">mug shot</a> was omitted from the widely shared collage.</p>
<h2>Faith Leaders Attempt to Halt Operations at ICE Facility</h2>
<p>According to Rev. Rebecca Girrell, a participant and <a href="https://www.unitedchurchmorrisville.org/users/rev-dr-becca-girrell">Methodist pastor</a>, the group was taken into custody on trespassing charges after entering the ICE National Criminal Analysis and Targeting Center situated within a private business park in Williston, Vermont.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ice.gov/doclib/about/offices/ero/pdf/todCenterOverviews.pdf">ICE documentation</a> describes the surveillance center as a hub where personnel analyze data across various law enforcement and immigration databases to generate removal leads for field offices.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://vtstatepolice.blogspot.com/2026/09/vsp-arrests-seven-people-on-trespassing.html">news release</a> (<a href="https://perma.cc/R2WB-XX67">archived</a>) issued by the Vermont State Police further details the circumstances of the demonstration:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span>These individuals were among a <strong>group of people who entered the building to protest federal agencies — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement</strong> — that occupy space there alongside private businesses and a medical office. The building owner said the individuals were trespassing, refused to leave when asked, and requested that police remove them from the property.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span>State police, working in conjunction with the Williston Police Department, responded and spoke with protest leaders. That discussion led to several people leaving the inside of the building, while the others indicated they'd need to be arrested.</span></p>
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<p>Girrell explained that the demonstration was an act of civil disobedience aimed at temporarily hindering ICE's ability to monitor community members. By obstructing the entrances to the ICE office from the inside, the group successfully delayed employees from reaching their morning shifts and caused a brief shutdown of the facility.</p>
<p>While a separate group of demonstrators remained on public property outside without facing arrest, the clergy members positioned themselves directly inside the doorways of the ICE office.</p>
<p>"We sang, prayed, held silence, and read names of people killed in interactions with ICE," Girrell noted. "At the time of the arrest, we knelt in silence. Five of us complied with arrest, and two clergy 'went limp' and were carried out by police."</p>
<h2>Identification of the Arrested Clergy</h2>
<p>The names published in the official Vermont State Police <a href="https://perma.cc/R2WB-XX67">news release</a> correspond directly with the booking photos circulating online:</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span>The individuals arrested are:</span></p>
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<li><span>Catherine Bock, 78, of Burlington, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Jessica Derise, 54, of Williston, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Rebecca Girrell, 47, of South Burlington, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Elizabeth Gleich, 36, of Middlebury, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Karen Johnston, 58, of Colchester, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Earl Kooperkamp, 69, of Bradford, VT</span></li>
<li><span>Susan McMillan, 65, of Colchester, VT</span></li>
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<p class="MsoNormal">All seven individuals are recognized faith leaders with public ties to religious organizations, allowing for independent confirmation of their identities. The six individuals featured in the viral mug shots are all ordained clergy members. The seventh individual, <a href="https://www.lchaimcollective.org/events/special-havdalah-potluck-in-celebration-of-catherine-bock">Bock</a>, belongs to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), a tradition that does not practice formal ordination.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bock stated that her local Quaker community was aware of and supported her decision, though she acted based on her personal conscience.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having participated in four protests at the facility, Bock indicated plans to continue joining future demonstrations and drew parallels between current ICE operations and her parents' escape from Nazi Germany.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"I think that most people don't want to see their brothers and sisters treated the way that ICE has treated people," Bock said.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Revs. <a href="https://www.collegestreetcongregationalchurch.com/team-1#:~:text=you%E2%80%99re%20welcome%20here.-,Jessica%20Derise,-Interim%20Pastor">Derise</a> and <a href="https://www.midducc.org/who-we-are/pastors-staff-and-officers#:~:text=REV.%20ELIZABETH%20GLEICH">Gleich</a> serve as Protestant Christian pastors.</p>
<p>"As clergy, my faith does not allow me to remain silent while neighbors are dehumanized, detained, or separated from those they love," Derise shared in a statement. "I protest peacefully because every person bears sacred worth, no government agency is beyond moral accountability, and solidarity must be practiced - not merely preached."</p>
<p>Johnston <a href="https://www.uua.org/people/karen-g-johnston">is a Unitarian Universalist</a> minister within a liberal faith tradition rooted in shared values rather than a strict <a href="https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe">creed</a>. She emphasized that her religious principles "call me and all people of conscience and faith to actively not cooperate with the system of cruelty that is fueled by this ICE spy center."</p>
<p>Kooperkamp serves as <a href="https://www.goodshepherdbarrevt.org/who-we-are.html#:~:text=Rev.%20Earl%20Kooperkamp%2C%20Rector">an Episcopal priest</a>, while McMillan functions as <a href="https://diovermont.org/2026/02/04/from-bishop-shannon-mcmillan-called-as-archdeacon/">an archdeacon</a> within the same denomination. Shannon MacVean-Brown, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, voiced strong backing for the demonstration, describing it as a planned nonviolent effort by a grassroots coalition of religious leaders.</p>
<p>"<span>As Christians, we are called not only to bear witness to injustice but to act. When Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, that is not a passive action. It is constant, immediate, and proactive," MacVean-Brown stated. "Civil disobedience, which has a long history in our country and in the Episcopal Church, is one way we actively love our neighbors."</span></p>
<p>McMillan echoed these sentiments in a separate statement included in the diocesan communication, criticizing national leaders who claim Christian faith while supporting policies she deemed harmful.</p>
<p>"<span>Every day, from this building, ICE surveils, determining which man, woman or child should be targeted. And then that person, or someone mistaken for that person, or a brown skinned person who happens to be nearby, is kidnapped, incarcerated without due process, and their life destroyed," McMillan stated. "If Jesus were here in the US today, he could easily be caught in this trap and deported. This is not Christianity and I have to fight this cruelty in every way I can."</span></p>