According to authorities, a professor was driving with his 11-year-old son at around 10 AM on Friday, May 8, “when two unknown vehicles, possibly pickup trucks, approached him and flagged him down.” The professor, who was not identified due to safety concerns, assumed that the cars needed assistance and stopped. He spoke to one of the drivers, a white male.

The professor was told he was not wanted in Vermont and “to leave.” “There were significant racial undertones to the interaction,” Vermont State Police said in a statement.

Police added that the victim was able to “verbally de-escalate the situation and drive home” without having things get physical.

“People in Vermont should not have to worry about crimes motivated by hate at any time, let alone when our communities should be pulling together to face an unprecedented situation that affects all of us,” Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, director of the Vermont State Police, said in a statement on May 13.

Authorities also noted that although they have been in contact with the victim and his family, but do not have descriptions of the vehicles or man who pulled him over.

“I want to be very clear: I have no tolerance for this kind of thing. It’s unacceptable. It does not represent my views or who I believe we are as a state,” Phil Scott, the governor of Vermont, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Making this situation in Hartford even more disturbing was the racial undertone used during this exchange with the individual who is a person of color.”

“So let me be very clear, this is not acceptable and it can’t be tolerated and there’s no excuse for it,” he added. The governor also said he called the family to apologize.

“Vermont is and must continue to be a state where visitors feel welcome, regardless of who they are, what they look like or where they come from, even during this pandemic,” police said in the release. “Hate speech and threats are disturbing, unacceptable and have no place in Vermont.”

Vermont State police are investigating the incident. They ask anyone with information to call 802-234-9933.