Instagram story viewer> @project_abolition> Posts

project_abolition

@project_abolition

199

followers

118

following

(Previously FreeHerVT) We are a grassroots group dedicated to ending the use of incarceration in N’dakinna and creating community-based solutions

POSTS STORIES REELS

✊ Last week, Vermont SHUT DOWN ICE!

All week, hundreds of community members joined protests, meetings, sit-ins, vigils, and more. On Monday, @project_abolition led a car caravan outside the Women’s Prison in South Burlington. On Wednesday, community members protested three years of Israel and the US’s genocide in Palestine outside of ICE’s Surveillance Center in Williston. On Friday, we marked the end of the week of action by blocking the street in front of ICE’s Snitch Center with a Block Party!

Thanks to our efforts, ICE’s office at 188 Harvest Lane was CLOSED all week! ICE and the whole Trump administration are SCARED of a mass movement. This week may be over, but the people have the power to SHUT ICE DOWN!

#abolishice by @project_abolition

On the final day of the week of action, we’re taking the street of the snitch center to make art, where you can hear about what went down during the week of action and hear from initiatives to shut down ICE beyond the week!

shutdownicevt.org

📆 Friday, October 9th
🕒 3PM-6PM
📍 188 Harvest Lane, Williston VT by @project_abolition

In case you missed it, get involved to shut down ICE, police, and prisons! [link in bio] #abolishICE #abolishthepolice #abolishprisons by @project_abolition

10/5 Caravan Action

#shutdownicevt #shutdownicevtweekofaction #vtweekofaction #abolishice #prisonabolition by @project_abolition

The national week of action to shut down ICE's surveillance nerve center is HERE! We'll be protesting everyday this week to call attention to and shut down ICE'S infrastructure in Vermont that enables the deportation machine to devastate communities across the country. Join us this week in Williston, Vermont, or take action wherever you are in solidarity!

For more information, including our public calendar of events and solidarity action toolkit, check out shutdownicevt.org

#shutdownicevt #shutdownicevtweekofaction #vtweekofaction ##abolishice by @project_abolition

Let’s make some noise! Join us at Farrell Park in South Burlington (right around the corner from the women’s prison) at 4pm to decorate cars and make signs before our action.

Please bring your favorite noisemakers and plan to join us by car or outside the prison at 5pm.

Love & Rage! by @project_abolition

Join us for an art build this Thursday, October 1, from 6-9pm in central Vermont, ahead of the week of action.

Please bring cardboard, paints, brushes, and any other art materials you can spare.

DM us for the address 🖤

Love & Rage! by @project_abolition

Join us on Monday, October 5 from 5-6pm for a mass caravan action at the women’s prison, Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, in South Burlington. Join us with a car or without! Some will drive around the prison, while others will make noise on the ground!

Vermont is the national headquarters for ICE. Outrage surrounding the two National data centers in Williston has brought together local organizations, campaigns, faith groups, and neighbors to plan a week of action (October 5th - October 10th) to shut ICE down. Prison abolition plays a key role in this week of action, as it helps us identify the carceral weaponry of the VT deportation machine.

Vermont prisons have been used to facilitate the kidnapping and deportation of over 1,000 immigrants since January 1, 2025, with over 400 detainees being moved through the women’s prison alone (data from the VT ICE Detainee Tracker).

Vermont says NO MORE! Abolish ICE, Abolish Prisons!

Love & rage,
Project Abolition by @project_abolition

Our community members deserve care, support, and autonomy. Criminalization will never solve the deep underlying social issues we face and instead will perpetuate cycles of harm and suffering.

As you take in this data, we hope you see that the majority of the community members incarcerated in Vermont prisons are struggling with poverty, trauma, substance use, and mental health struggles (most often navigating a combination of these factors).

When there is not nearly enough funding for affordable and supportive housing, mental health and substance use resources, and other vital services that ensure the basic needs of our community members are addressed, there should not be exorbitant amount of resources and efforts to enforce punitive measures. It is cruel.

We have never truly explored investing in a robust social safety net to address public safety. Police and prisons have had hundreds of years to experiment with their approaches to public safety. Time and time again, we have seen the system exacerbate racial oppression, poverty, and trauma. The federal prison system alone has grown by 750% since 1980, and it is estimated that around 2 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States. This is not a sign of a successful solution—this is the sign of a system designed to endlessly grow for profit and ensnare the most vulnerable community members among us.

Care is courageous. It is time to make investments in community-based solutions to the problems Vermont faces.

Sources:

1. VT DOC Budget Presentations (2024-2026): doc.vermont.gov/about-us/reports/budget-documents

2. Data from: Vermont Inmate Family Survey by the University of Vermont Department of Sociology: doc.vermont.gov/sites/correct/files/documents/FY2024_Budget%20Presentation_DOC.pdf

3. UVM Vermont Legislative Research Service: uvm.edu/d10-files/documents/2025-01/Children-of-Incarcerated-Parents.pdf

In love and rage,
Project Abolition by @project_abolition

Hello beloved community!

We have some big updates for you. Organizers from the FreeHer VT campaign have been working steadfastly over the past few months to create a new local grassroots group called Project Abolition!

We decided to form an autonomous group because the national organization that previously supported us was navigating financial hardship and had to make the hard decision to end support for the campaign in the spring. We are thankful for their help in creating a container for abolitionist organizing to blossom and are committed to keeping the work going.

We are currently finalizing the fiscal sponsorship process and hope to host an informational session afterward to share ways the community can help us co-create the next chapter of what abolitionist organizing looks like for us.

Love and rage,
Project Abolition by @project_abolition