Activists in Portland forced armor-clad riot police to withdraw during a heated protest to halt a home eviction, seeing an ongoing foreclosure dispute erupt into clashes as demonstrators reinforced the property with barricades.
As Multnomah County sheriff’s deputies and Portland police attempted to execute an eviction early on Tuesday morning, officers were met by a crowd of some 100 protesters, seeing a tense standoff and ultimately scuffles as they moved to “re-secure” the home.
Local reporters on the scene captured the ensuing confrontation, in which activists were seen shouting down a line of riot police, some unleashing fire extinguishers on officers as the tension gave way to clashes.
Protesters push back a line of police. pic.twitter.com/MB8YHvn5c1
Police continue to get pushed back, a protester with a fire extinguisher covers a vehicle as people fight back. pic.twitter.com/drvWXhXNMq
A protester covers police with a fire extinguisher from behind as they advance towards activists. pic.twitter.com/2zf01wBtPH
Throughout the day, protesters erected makeshift barricades around the foreclosure site – dubbed the “Red House” by local activists – using fences, wooden pallets and other debris to bar entry to police vehicles. Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling described the area as the city’s newest “autonomous zone,” mirroring similar encampments set up in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and several other cities over the summer.
Major barricade up at Albina Avenue in Portland. Albina was once the heart of Portland’s Black community, but gentrification has displaced most of the original community pic.twitter.com/T40eWh4VIX
Portland has a new autonomous zone here on Mississippi Avenue. The Kinney family says their home was foreclosed on because they owed less than $100K, while the vacant land next door is with $10 million pic.twitter.com/nEngxmATbX
Protesters in Portland are occupying space around Mississippi Avenue following police returning to the “Red House,” where a local family is being evicted pic.twitter.com/C4b4JRhN7T
At several points during the eviction attempt, police were made to retreat under pressure from an angry crowd of protesters. While they returned at least once, they were ultimately forced off the site with “tires deflated” and “windows smashed,” according to freelance photographer Alex Milan Tracy, who documented the clashes. While Tracy said it appears the eviction was held off for now, demonstrators were seen stacking rocks into piles, presumably in preparation for further scuffles with police.
Lots of energy here as police fall back once more. pic.twitter.com/gEENjE5tMQ
Full clip from outside the Red House as activists aggressively push police out of the area, halting the eviction of the Kinney family for now. pic.twitter.com/DgOKrEp8ZX
Portland police unit leaves north on Mississippi tires deflated, windows smashed. pic.twitter.com/97PlZHIkNg
The Multnomah sheriff’s office said officers made “several arrests” at the Red House and “recovered weapons,” adding in a statement that the home’s occupants “were previously ordered removed by court order.” The statement also noted that police were responding to complaints from neighbors regarding “significant livability, public safety and public health concerns” at the property.
Though federal and statewide eviction moratoriums were passed earlier this year amid the coronavirus outbreak and remain in effect, the Red House does not qualify for the exemptions, as they “do not apply to evictions based on post-nonjudicial foreclosures,” the sheriff’s office said. Nonjudicial foreclosures typically occur when a mortgage agreement contains a “power of sale” clause, allowing a lender to repossess a property without taking the borrower to court.
The Red House has been a focal point for housing activists since a county judge authorized the eviction of its occupants, the Kinney family, in September. Aiming to ward off repossession of the home, protesters have established a “24/7 eviction blockade,” some camping on the property for months on end. A legal battle over the home rages on, with the Kinney family filing a petition with the US Supreme Court in November. The home’s legal owner, Urban Housing Development, has until December 23 to respond, according to court records.
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