To the editor: Rep. Charlton should stand with constituents
The Chester Telegraph | Feb 09, 2026 | Comments 6
Rep. Tom Charlton on Friday evening held a meeting with his constituents at Chester Town Hall. His first order of business was to explain his vote against a resolution critical of ICE actions in U.S. cities. Despite his soft-spoken demeanor, Rep. Charlton’s words quickly became unsettling.
He repeatedly attempted to conjure a false equivalence between unidentified, masked ICE agents smashing car windows and violently throwing U.S. citizens to the pavement and the people who protest such lawless actions.
While avoiding actually acknowledging the recent killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the horrific beating of Alberto Castaneda or the detention of 5-year-old Liam Ramos, he instead decried protestors yelling and blowing whistles — as if such constitutionally protected activity was responsible for inciting ICE violence against legitimate protesters.
With echoes of Donald Trump’s horrific “very fine people on both sides” defense of the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville in 2017, Rep. Charlton kept returning to his theme that protestors are partly responsible for the ICE violence. We should not have to remind a state representative that protesting is not a capital offense and that federal agents do not have the right to kidnap, beat and kill people for being in the streets calling for justice.
Rep. Charlton repeatedly talked about believing in “balance” with tone-deaf comparisons of vocal protestors and violent thugs. Rep. Charlton is grossly out of touch with those he represents, many of whom are dealing with the new reality of having to form rapid response teams in response to ICE assaults on their neighbors and are adding immigrant justice and human rights organizations to the contacts in their phones in case of an emergency.
Rep. Charlton has seen hundreds of peaceful protesters, many of whom are his constituents, on the Green in Chester, calling for justice and compassion, and yet he infers that those citizens are part of the problem and warns people not to incite ICE if they come to town.
Instead of dismissing his own constituents, he should stand with them and speak out against the violence of ICE.
Robert Nied
Chester
Filed Under: Commentary • Letters to the Editor
You are cherry picking for your base!
Here is Rep Charlton’s explanation of his vote recorded in the House Journal on 1/29/26 pg 61. ( 2952 Journal of the House)He explained this extensively last night at his Representative update at the town hall in Chester.
Rep. Charlton of Chester provided the following vote explanation: “Madam Speaker: I voted no. I do support the Governor’s prerogative to issue his statement and have no doubt I am very deeply concerned by recent events in Minneapolis. This resolution as written, however, misses an opportunity to call on all parties to de-escalate confrontational action and inflammatory rhetoric. This is one of the first principles of conflict mitigation. With this omission the document falls from being something which may have helped de- escalation to theatrics on an already crowded stage. We can do much better than this. If we think to lead, we must be different. You are cherry picking for your base!
Here is Rep Charlton’s explanation of his vote recorded in the House Journal on 1/29/26 pg 61. ( 2952 Journal of the House)He explained this extensively last night at his Representative update at the town hall in Chester.
Rep. Charlton of Chester provided the following vote explanation: “Madam Speaker: I voted no. I do support the Governor’s prerogative to issue his statement and have no doubt I am very deeply concerned by recent events in Minneapolis. This resolution as written, however, misses an opportunity to call on all parties to de-escalate confrontational action and inflammatory rhetoric. This is one of the first principles of conflict mitigation. With this omission the document falls from being something which may have helped de- escalation to theatrics on an already crowded stage. We can do much better than this. If we think to lead, we must be different.
You are cherry picking for your base!
Here is Rep Charlton’s explanation of his vote recorded in the House Journal on 1/29/26 pg 61. ( 2952 Journal of the House)He explained this extensively last night at his Representative update at the town hall in Chester.
Rep. Charlton of Chester provided the following vote explanation: “Madam Speaker: I voted no. I do support the Governor’s prerogative to issue his statement and have no doubt I am very deeply concerned by recent events in Minneapolis. This resolution as written, however, misses an opportunity to call on all parties to de-escalate confrontational action and inflammatory rhetoric. This is one of the first principles of conflict mitigation. With this omission the document falls from being something which may have helped de- escalation to theatrics on an already crowded stage. We can do much better than this. If we think to lead, we must be different.
In response to Ms. Crawford’s comment addressed directly to me, I offer the following: Representative Charlton does legislatively represent all of the people in his district, the problem he has failed most of them. He has ignored the concerns expressed about the lawlessness of ICE and blamed the victims of that lawlessness. Since last year 38 people have died in ICE detention and many more have suffered horrible injuries as a result of ICE’s brutal tactics. ICE agents cover their faces, provide no valid identification, no court orders, and recklessly use tear gas and other weapons against protesters exercising their constitutional rights. Representative Charlton is on the wrong side of history as he ignores the brutality of ICE, blames the victims, and dismisses the concerns of his constituents. His reckoning may very well come at election time.
Tom Charlton does not “represent all” as Ms. Crawford stated. Anyone willing to defend ICE is part of our countries problem and by no way “represents all” in my book.
Mr Nied,
Has it occurred to you that Tom represents all, not just those who protest? I agree 100% that the loud, raucous, sometimes violent protests we’ve seen in MN purposely add so much noise and confusion to the situation of ICE trying to remove criminal aliens, helps to cause some (much) to the craziness we see there. Imagine trying to do your job, no matter what it is, calmly in a situation like that!
Vermont is another “sanctuary state” and like MN, won’t comply with Federal Law which allows for peaceful removal of criminal aliens and those, often with long standing orders of removal. This happens when state and local police, courts and ICE all work together
There are states and cities all over this country peacefully removing these people then there are the radical states/cities that insist whipping up the furor, making the job nearly impossible which, sadly adds to mistakes, injury and as we’ve seen, death.
I stand with law and order and Tom Charlton and thank him for standing up for ALL of us!
Barbara Crawford
Thank you Mr. Nied. That is a terrific letter.