“Pawlet Selectboard member cited for assaulting farm worker, juvenile”

Richard Hulett, owner of Deer Flats Farm and a selectboard member in Pawlet, is facing two charges of simple assault after a Vermont State Police investigation concluded that Hulett assaulted a farm worker and the farm worker’s 15-year-old nephew in an altercation last month…

… State Police Trooper Bruce Cleaver wrote that the incident occurred on July 3, after Hulett received information earlier that day alleging that a person on the property had been attempting to sell illegal narcotics…

Hulett declined to discuss the incident, but his wife, Mandy Hulett, said Tuesday that the charges were false…

At a July 18 press conference organized by Migrant Justice and staged near the West Pawlet farm, Perez-Roblero recounted his experiences before a group that had gathered to support him.

He said Hulett knocked on his door after a misunderstood conversation outside the home. “As soon as I answered, he started hitting me,” Perez-Roblero said in a translation provided by Lambek…

Perez-Roblero, who is from Mexico, said he came to the U.S. seven years ago and has moved from farm to farm in Vermont…

Migrant Justice staff characterized the incident as part of a broader problem, revealing a widespread pattern of toxic power dynamics on Vermont dairy farms…