Lexington Chamber of Commerce moves fundraiser location due to ICE ties

Lexington resident Joshua Model has been protesting ICE for months. 

He’s gone to several of Bearing Witness’ Wednesday protests outside ICE’s New England headquarters in Burlington. He has also demonstrated outside Café Escadrille on Route 3 in Burlington since August. 

Why Café Escadrille? 

Because Robert Murray, the man who owns both Café Escadrille and the building it occupies, also owns the building at 1000 District Ave. in Burlington that ICE occupies. Through his activism, Model has been trying to get Murray not to renew ICE’s lease when it’s up at the end of 2028. 

When Model saw Lexington’s Chamber of Commerce planned to host its annual fundraiser at Café Escadrille, he made his voice heard. 

“I wrote messages to the Lexington Chamber of Commerce and the sponsors saying, ‘hey, I didn’t know if you knew this, but…this is connected,’” he told the Observer. 

Every year, the Chamber hosts a themed fundraising event. Last year, it held a gala at Wilson Farm and this year, it’s having a casino night on March 19. Around 200 people come every year. Because the event is so large, the Chamber starts planning it about a year in advance. When the Chamber’s members began planning the 2026 event last year, they wanted to hold it in Lexington but couldn’t find a space that could host its large crowd, Martha Sevigny, chair of the Chamber’s board, told the Observer.

“If we can’t do it here, we can support another Chamber business in a next-door town. We all support each other,” Sevigny said. 

Café Escadrille fit the bill. 

But once the event was publicized, Sevigny and the Chamber heard backlash from Model and other residents.

“Once we were made aware of what was going on, specifically in the ICE detention facility owned by the Café Escadrille [building] owner, we didn’t feel right about having our venue there,” Sevigny said. So the Chamber cancelled its reservation at the Café. 

Café Escadrille confirmed with the Observer that the Chamber cancelled its event at their restaurant and refunded the Chamber’s deposit but did not provide further comment.

Model was thrilled about the Chamber’s decision. 

“​​I had expected them to be like, ‘oh, he’s a crank and everybody has a business,’ I expected to mostly be ignored,” he said. “It felt very good to know that not just the people who go to Bearing Witness, but other folks in the community have the same sort of ethical concerns with what’s going on.” 

It was a logistical nightmare, Sevigny said, but the Board unanimously decided to move the event. Now, it will be at the Inn at Hastings Park in Lexington, still on March 19. 

“I won’t lie, it was a scramble,” she said. “And there’s a cost that comes with it…the Inn is not a large-scale venue that can hold the same kind of event we’ve had in the past and we recognize that there’s going to be financial detriment because we can only sell so many tickets because it can’t hold as many people. But again, that was the choice we decided to make in the best interest of the Chamber and our town.”

The Chamber Board’s decision made Model feel like his activism is working. 

“It always feels good when — when you’re out there protesting, you feel a little bit like a crazy person — you feel people, if not go all the way out and come and wave a sign, come a little bit around to your point of view that there are bad things happening and you have to sometimes put the ethics first. That makes me feel very good.”

Note: An earlier version of this article did not state that Robert Murray owns Cafe Escadrille. It only stated Murray owns the building it occupies. This updated version states he owns both the business and the building.