On June 29, Winooski resident Tyler Gibbs was driving down Main Street when a white pickup truck pulled up next to her.
“He rolled his window down, completely unprovoked, and shouted, ‘If Black Lives Matter, then why are your people always under mine?’” Gibbs told VTDigger in an interview.
She tried to get away and drove back to her house. But he followed her there, where he continued to yell racist statements at Gibbs, who is a Black woman. She asked him if he yells at random Black people, to which he allegedly responded, “Yes, because you deserve it.” At one point, he allegedly jerked his car in her direction two times, apparently attempting to hit her.
The man, Michael Gosselin, 50, has been charged with four misdemeanors: aggravated disorderly conduct, stalking, negligent driving and disorderly conduct with a hate crime attached, according to court documents obtained by VTDigger through records requests.
But Gibbs and others are questioning why Gosselin hasn’t been charged with felony aggravated assault — a crime with a steeper jail sentence and one that was recommended by the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the incident.
Gibbs, 30, said she feels as though prosecutors don’t care about the trauma Gosselin inflicted upon her because she’s a Black woman.
Sarah George, the Chittenden County state’s attorney, told VTDigger in an email that she thinks there’s currently not enough evidence to support a felony charge in this case, although that could change if more is uncovered. She said her office is working to hold Gosselin accountable.
Gibbs said she also feels frustrated by the criminal justice system’s response to her experience, which left her terrified. It’s been exactly a month since the incident occurred and neither Deputy State’s Attorney Sally Adams, the prosecutor leading this case, nor the assigned victim’s advocate, Karen Burns, had organized meetings with Gibbs.
Gibbs just recently received confirmation that a meeting with both women is scheduled for next week.
“No one has been particularly forthcoming with information about this case at all,” Gibbs said. “It’s been really frustrating.”
The June 29 incident
Winooski Police officer Aaron Fay was the first to respond to Gibbs’ apartment complex, where Gosselin had followed her and continued to accost her.
Fay noted in his affidavit of probable cause that Gosselin is a familiar figure to the Winooski Police Department. Fay wrote that Gosselin is known to engage in “road rage” incidents.
According to Winooski police records, Gosselin has had dozens of interactions with the police. He was arrested twice before the incident with Gibbs — in 2018 for disorderly conduct and in 2020 for assault. Charges were not filed for either incident in Chittenden County criminal court.
In his affidavit, Fay wrote that Gosselin was the first one to call the police, claiming Gibbs had assaulted him. Gibbs told Fay that, when Gosselin allegedly tried to run into her, she tried to take a photo of his truck. Gosselin got out of the truck and tried to grab Gibbs’ phone, according to the affidavit. When she knocked his hand away, he claimed she had assaulted him.
Gibbs was crying in front of her apartment as she recounted what had happened, according to Fay’s affidavit. Gibbs said Gosselin had jerked his car toward her twice, trying to hit her, causing her to fear for her life, according to the affidavit. She also told Fay that Gosselin had yelled racist comments at her.
Gibbs told VTDigger that, while at her apartment, Gosselin allegedly shouted “If Black lives matter, they’ll matter underneath my truck.”
Fay recommended that Gosselin be charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault, grossly negligent driving, hate-motivated crime, aggravated disorderly conduct and stalking.
Police spoke to two witnesses of the incident, both of whom confirmed that they saw Gosselin try to hit Gibbs with his car twice. One witness also confirmed hearing Gosselin make racist statements toward Gibbs. Police arrested Gosselin later that day.
While $15,000 bail was initially set by Judge Thomas Devine, the request was not imposed by the court, and Gosselin was released on condition that he not be allowed to drive, contact Gibbs or come within 300 feet of her home. Gosselin pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Sandra Lee, a Chittenden County public defender representing Gosselin, said her client feels terrible about his actions and wants to apologize to Gibbs for any harm he caused her. While Lee said she doesn’t want this explanation to be viewed as an excuse for his actions, she said Gosselin suffers from “significant mental health issues.”
“He is actively in treatment to address those issues,” Lee said. “He’s also aware of the negative impact of this incident and is working to make amends.”
Why not a felony?
“As far as I’m concerned, he tried to kill me,” Gibbs told VTDigger about the encounter with Gosselin.
“It feels like there’s this really shitty trend where white people do really horrible, racist things, and then the state’s attorneys just kind of give them a slap on the wrist, and nothing really happens, and there’s not really any consequences,” she said. “And it doesn’t make me feel safe in the community. At all.”
Since the incident with Gosselin, Gibbs said she’s afraid to leave her house. She brings her dog to work for protection and has consistent nightmares. A GoFundMe account has been set up for Gibbs to help pay for therapy sessions and make up for lost work because of her heightened anxiety from the incident.
Tabitha Moore, a criminal justice and law enforcement consultant and former director of the Rutland NAACP, said she thinks it’s “extraordinarily concerning” that the officer who first responded to the scene recommended a steeper felony charge than prosecutors have filed.
“It just speaks to the fact that Black pain is often minimized in white eyes and in a white system,” Moore said. “The fact that this is being brought down to misdemeanor charges tells [Gibbs] that Black lives don’t matter.”
Under Vermont law, aggravated assault is defined, in part, as “attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
A conviction for aggravated assault could result in up to 15 years in jail. Under the current four misdemeanors he’s charged with, Gosselin could face about five years in jail.
George told VTDigger in an email that part of the reason she doesn’t think a felony charge is appropriate right now is that Gosselin didn’t actually strike Gibbs with his car. Adams, who’s prosecuting the case, said she didn’t have time to speak with VTDigger and didn’t feel comfortable commenting before speaking with Gibbs.
“In order for us to charge an aggravated assault, we would need to show that he did, or that he intended to, cause her serious bodily injury, under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” George wrote. “Right now, the witness statements, nor Tyler’s statements, indicate that.”
Prosecutors don’t always follow police recommendations on charges, she said. Police might not be familiar with court decisions in similar cases or have enough evidence to justify specific charges, she said. However, she added, the charges can change when more evidence is collected or after prosecutors speak with the victim.
George said her office is “not in the practice of charging people with felonies lightly.”
“When we believe that we can charge someone with misdemeanors and still grasp the seriousness of the offense, we will do so,” she said. “For far too long, prosecutors have charged people with the most serious offenses they can find, without fully appreciating the devastating consequences of those decisions. In some cases, it is absolutely appropriate, but to think that something is only being taken seriously if we charge someone with a felony, is inaccurate.”
She said she has great respect for Moore and does not want to minimize or question her or Gibbs’ critiques of the charges brought against Gosselin.
“We will do what we can to assure Tyler and the community that we believe Black lives matter and that we plan to hold Mr. Gosselin accountable,” George said.
Robert Appel, former director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission and now a civil rights attorney, also pointed to the same parameters in Vermont’s aggravated assault statute. Gibbs was not physically harmed by Gosselin, and Gosselin didn’t make any explicit statements expressing he wanted to harm her, according to the evidence he viewed. The statute requires that prosecutors prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Gosselin intended to harm Gibbs.
He said the charges filed by George’s office seem appropriate, not having seen the witness statements. He said her office is known to not overcharge — George is an outspoken advocate about criminal justice reform and is known for her progressive prosecutorial philosophies.
George previously told VTDigger she’s in favor of more rehabilitative options for offenders rather than punitive jail sentences.
But Moore says this mercy seems to be favored for white offenders.
She said she thinks the prosecutors did Gibbs a disservice by charging Gosselin with lower-level crimes first and looking for more evidence later to potentially increase the punishment.
“If you are aware of the racial inequities, dismissal and disregard for Black pain and white accountability in the criminal justice system,” Moore said, “what sense does it make to minimize charges before you have all the information you need to do so?”
Gibbs said she feels that George isn’t pressing more serious charges against Gosselin because she’s Black.
“It’s just a deprioritization of the horrible shit that happens to us,” Gibbs told VTDigger through tears. “It feels like they’re looking for any reason they can to not levy any heavy charges against him.”
How can the system support victims?
Moore said it’s critical for the criminal justice system to support victims through a traumatizing experience to protect their mental health and well-being.
She said a victim’s advocate or prosecutor should be communicating with Gibbs about where the case stands and what is happening to the person who allegedly inflicted harm, so Gibbs can feel comfortable in her community.
Burns, Gibb’s assigned victim’s advocate, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from VTDigger. Gibbs said they had one phone call where Burns explained how her office can help her through this process and had her fill out some paperwork. Gibbs said she had to continually email Burns for weeks to schedule a meeting.
Moore said victims’ advocates can be under-resourced and overwhelmed. She also recognized that the criminal justice system is often criticized for not centering the victim’s needs and in some cases, retraumatizing them.
Moore recommended that an advocate should be making sure that Gibbs has proper security at home, and double-checking to make sure Gosselin’s and Gibbs’ travel routes to and from work don’t intersect, to prevent more conflict and fear.
She also said an advocate should be asking Gibbs what forms of accountability she wants to see, to identify any restorative justice measures that could be used to bring closure to the case.
“They should be really finding out from her what would accountability look and feel like,” Moore said. “What would restoration look and feel like?”
Correction: An earlier vision of this story misidentified the person Winooski police officer Aaron Fay had recommended be charged with multiple counts. It was Michael Gosselin.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Victim of racist road-rage incident in Winooski questions low-level charges.