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It took two years for the Vermont Human Rights Commission to determine that the Bennington Police Department failed to help protect the state’s only Black lawmaker.
Rep. Ruqaiyah “Kiah” Morris filed a formal complaint with the commission in 2019, one year after she stepped down from her legislature duties due to being threatened and harassed by local white supremacist Max Misch,
VPR reports.
“This investigation recommends that the Commission find reasonable grounds to believe that the (Bennington Police Department) discriminated against [Kiah Morris] … and [her husband] James Lawton, on the basis of race and color,” the 54-page report said.
Misch had been harassing Morris with threatening messages on social media for two years before she decided to resign in 2018. The politician reported her concerns over the threat Misch posed to her and her family to the Bennington Police but said she was ignored.