On Tuesday morning, activists in Detroit built a human wall in an effort to halt the eviction of woman who has stage 5 kidney disease. This led to chaos erupting with officials.
The Detroit Eviction Defense says that 44-year-old Taura Brown was being mistreated after being evicted from her tiny home. The activists stood together, arm-in-arm, as officials attempted to breakthrough their human wall.
Recordings circulating social media depict the bailiffs pulling, shoving, striking in the face, kicking, and pushing activists to the ground. They had been blocking the entryway into Brown’s residence. Police had to be called to the scene to handle the matter.
The ordeal began at about 9 a.m. after two years of Brown battling to stay in her home, located in a community of tiny residences. She has Stage 5 kidney disease and is on dialysis.
Brown and others feel as though her eviction is because she highlighted the issues at Cass Community Social Services, a non-profit that builds homes for low-income people.
However, CCSS says that her lease wasn’t renewed because she doesn’t reside at the residence over 50% of the time. They added that her name was also on another lease within the city.
Brown, on the other hand, says that she was employed at the other apartment building. That way, she and her boyfriend could travel as they pleased.
After a while, the bailiffs were able to get into the home through a back door, and Brown was forced to leave.
“Based on the merits of the case, 36th District Court Judge Shawn Jacque ruled that the plaintiff had no further legal right to remain in possession of the…property,” a statement read.
