A Winooski man has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Burlington to a felony hate crime charge, according to the Caledonian-Record.
Michael Gosselin, 51, is accused of trying to strike a woman of color twice with his truck while making racist comments. The incident is said to have happened in the Onion City on June 29 of last year. Gosselin has been released from custody on conditions; the date of his next scheduled court appearance wasn’t clear Sunday night.
The Winooski Police tried to get Gosselin charged with two state-level counts of felony aggravated assault. The Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office did not proceed with those counts; State’s Attorney Sarah George said at the time that the available evidence didn’t support the felony charges.
However, the Vermont U.S. Attorney’s Office later stepped in. A federal grand jury indicted Gosselin on a hate crime charge several weeks ago.