Per the Brattleboro Reformer:

According to police, Pratt and passengers in the car he was driving allegedly shouted racial slurs and threats at a group of black teenagers on Flat Street.

Pratt and the passengers, according to a witness, also threatened a girl in the group, saying they would shoot her in the face.

The car drove to the top of the Transportation Center, police said, where the passengers got out and allegedly continued to shout at the teens below.

“Knowing about the NHRA (Nigger Hating Redneck Association), in which Pratt is a member,” police wrote in an affidavit, one teen allegedly spit on Pratt’s window.

In response, Pratt allegedly pulled a handgun from the center console and displayed it, allegedly leading one of the teenagers to believe that it was directed at him without actually pointing it at him.

According to police, this alleged altercation was recorded on the Transportation Center’s video camera.

A couple things I should explain about this: I know the specific area that’s being discussed here.  It’s not the best part of Brattleboro, but it’s right in the center of downtown, near many businesses, and not the sort of place where you expect someone to be posing threats with a handgun.  

The police seem to be handling this well, being very proactive with it, but still, I find it intensely disturbing that this would happen in Brattleboro.  I know lots of places in Vermont where I would fully expect this sort of thing, but Brattleboro isn’t one of them.

I guess I’m writing about this to follow up with earlier conversations about race and racism in Vermont, to say “yes, most definitely: Vermont has a race problem” and it goes beyond a few isolated incidents.  If there’s an active group in the Brattleboro high school which plays at race baiting, this is a serious problem, not just for the black students who live here (though they bear the brunt of it) but for pretty much everybody.  

One stupid kid with a gun is dangerous.  A group of stupid kids with a gun is an accident waiting to happen.

(Good activism comes from capitalizing resources we already have. Check it out! – promoted by Christian Avard)

Remember the controversial and ethically questionable mobile phone images of Saddam Hussein's execution?  While that was a pretty extreme example, it really demonstrated how easy it is to make a visual record with a push of the button on your mobile phone.

I don't have a cell phone myself.  For the recent bridge report, I used a $50 Vivatar digital camera which happens to have a video feature.  Most cameras have the same feature if you spend $50 or more.

Well, here comes iPhone expanding our imagination of the possible once again, offering a new concept called the “Mobile News Network” a la Steve Jobs.

Below the fold, a brief report on this development from Cairn's blog.  But before we get there, let me put out this nugget:

There's a future here in Vermont for citizen journalism using photos and video.  Rest assured, you'll hear more about it soon.

iPhone to Enable Citizen Journalism