Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen and two other activists set up a tower of speakers and played the sound of an F-35 aircraft taking off in what they called a "public demonstration" of how loud the aircraft will be once a planned 18 F-35 planes are stationed in Vermont. The Vermont Air National Guard is preparing to base the fighters within the state by the fall of 2019.
The trio was charged with disorderly conduct, local police said.
"Of course, that's exactly the point," Cohen told the Burlington Free Press on Saturday.
The city votes on Tuesday to decide whether officials should oppose the base. Conveniently, a pair of F-35s will arrive in Burlington this summer to give residents a sample of what the noise from the planes will really be like.