Co-Founder Of Ben & Jerry's Protests Planned F-35 Base Near Burlington, VT

A group of Burlington, VT citizens are not particularly happy that the Vermont National Guard plans to base F-35A fighter jets at Burlington International Airport (KBTV), and recently they drove a truck through the city simulating what they say is the amount of noise that will be generated by the fighter jets.

The stunt led to the arrest of three of the protesters, including Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream co-founder Ben Cohen, who told the Burlington Free Press that they knew exactly what they were doing when they began their campaign.

The protesters were told that they were in violation of the city's noise ordinance. Cohen said in a Tweet that if it is illegal for them to produce that kind of noise, the noise produced by the F-35s would also violate the city's noise ordinance ... "16 times per day, 52 weeks a year for the next 50 years."

A referendum on the ballot for a "Town Meeting Day" election held Tuesday would direct the Burlington City Council to formally oppose the placement of the F-35s at the Vermont Air Guard base, which is slated for September, 2019.

But Air Force officials say that the decision to base the Joint Strike Fighters at KBTV, which was made in 2013, is "beyond the point of no return", according to a report from the VTDigger website. Brig. Gen. Joel Clark said at a press event several days before the vote that the Air Force plans to bring two F-35s to Burlington later this year to give the public an opportunity to become more familiar with the airplane. But the F-16's currently based at KBTV will be moving out, he said. Eight of the 23 airplanes have already been transferred to Nellis AFB in Nevada, and the last of the F-16 are expected to depart Burlington about six months before the F-35s arrive.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original report, Original report