Occupy Minneapolis Forms Human Chain to Defend Foreclosed Home, Police Retreat

November 19th, 2011: Occupy Minneapolis encountered a bit more resistance from the authorities on day one of #Operation Occupy Southside than expected. Following two arrests and an incident in which a police officer tried to run down an occupier with a squad car, Occupy Minneapolis formed a human chain around Sa'ra Kaiser's foreclosed home, preventing the officers from boarding it up, and ultimately forcing the police - who had no legitimate legal pretense for preventing occupiers from being their in the first place - to give up and leave.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• OccupyMPLS
• OccupyMN
• OWS
• OMN
• Occupy Wall Street
• vehicular assault
• police brutality
• human chain
• foreclosure defense
• Sa'ra Kaiser'
• Monique White
• Occupy Minneapolis
• Occupy Minnesota
• Panda
• Victory
• police retreat
• #Operation Occupy Southside
• Operation Occupy Southside
• foreclosed home
• occupy a foreclosed home II
• Nick Espinosa
• Sa'ra Kaiser

[Mesmyle]

"They're running over Devon." Ummmmmm......pretty sure if you are dumb enough to stand in front of a car, you probably don't realize a simple fact: let me educate you. When you stand in front of a moving vehicle, you will get run over. The end.

[OccupyMNTV]

@Mesmyle Just to clarify, the squad car was parked and unmoving when he stepped in front of it. The officer deliberately drove into him. Oddly enough, the officer driving had plenty of space to simply back up and leave, which is actually what he ended up doing after being reprimanded by another officer.

[epiqkon1]

@billweir1745 I was not at all trying to say she didn't have a job. The fact is that she could not pay her bills for whatever reason. The fact also is that when failing to pay your bills, you lose whatever you put up for collateral on the loan, in this case the house. My point us merely that these people chanting seem to think that somehow the banks owe her the house. It's simply ludicrous to me. Also, if this country is such a shithole already......leave. Go find a country that is better

[OccupyMNTV]

@epiqkon1 Were I lacking a conscience, I could easily leave the country I love behind and live a better life for myself and only myself elsewhere. That said, I'm not willing to sit back and watch the United States continue to be plundered by an oligarchy that's abandoned the will of the people.

[epiqkon1]

The shame is that there are still these occupy idiots. This is pathetic. Ummm....and btw, it would be Shawna's home if she paid her bills. Even though I grew up poor myself, I cannot sympathize with you at all. But, maybe thats because my parents had the thought to teach me that if you want something in this life you have to work for it. There are no handouts. Maintaining a house takes a lot of hard work, and this mob mentality is what is going to really turn this country into a shithole.

[OccupyMNTV]

@epiqkon1 ...before convoluted adjustable-rate-mortgages that banks peddled to borrowers knowing full well they'd never be able to pay them back could easily result in monthly bills two or three times what the borrower expected, and before the technological development of derivatives, CDOs, CDSs, etc. made this entire ponzi scheme possible. I'd really recommend watching 'Inside Job," if you'd like to learn more about what's really going on.

[ivan191919]

@MrHacksawJoe I think the point here is to expose the ugly truth and bring awareness so that people see other's suffering as their own, there should be an end to this atomized individualized self-centred dog-should-eat-dog mentality. A truly and genuinely democratic society is a society where one's pain is felt by the whole community and where people stand up for each other's rights. These young bloods are defending you and I and we should be proud of them.

[OccupyMNTV]

@MrHacksawJoe The police actually left and things quieted down pretty early. Certainly before 10pm. Also, someone did a mic check apologizing to the neighbors for the noise. The audio wasn't great on the shot so I didn't include it. Occupiers also shoveled most of the block's sidewalks.

[EmceeUndecisive]

When the guy was getting so called ran over and the cop arrested him did he even read him his rights cause i didnt hear it

[sailumfaulkner]

Given a choice between being a Socialist, or licking the jack boot of the bank of Tel- A Lie. ?

[ElTurbinado]

Instead of actually *helping* Sara reclaim her home, they take the easy way out and simply stand around feeling good until the police (who are not associated with the bank in the least - conspiracy theories aside, of course) remove them by force, wasting taxpayer resources by tying up police in a situation that inevitably would still end with a foreclosed house.

[ElTurbinado]

Instead of actually *helping* Sara reclaim her home, they take the easy way out and simply stand around feeling good until the police remove them by force, wasting taxpayer resources by tying up police in a situation that inevitably would still end with a foreclosed house.

[ElTurbinado]

What did these guys expect to accomplish? The police aren't the ones that decide to foreclose a home. The article states that "Occupy Minnesota wants to help Kaiser reclaim her home". A more effective and neighbor-friendly solution would have been to help Sara pay her mortgage, perhaps also petitioning Minnesota universities to pay their professors enough to cover their mortgage payments.

[epiqkon1]

@thematthewgore Alright, lets clear some things up real quick. I was not for the bailouts. However, they are actually making the government money. But, are you actually saying that all home loans should be bailed out too?!? Nonsense. I agree that it is like socialism, but you don't move away from socialism by doing more socialistic acts. Do you know what it's called when you keep doing the same thing and expecting different results? Insanity.

[TheMatthewGore]

@epiqkon1 hey how come banks that needed bailouts to survive, are allowed to foreclose homes...please explain that to me...They were given handouts...and for all the people spouting the 'socialism' buzzword, bailouts are the only example of socialism ive seen in this country

[epiqkon1]

@gab1159 You can't be serious. Look at stats. This is not one crazy maltov guy. Look at the sexual assults, drug peddling and usage, property damage, ect. Come on now, I know you're not really trying to say it is a isolated incident!? Look at this video. Why stand in front of the cop car and thus break the law? I would be more inclined to listen if the people I see all the time involved didn't give off the aura of pissed off, entitlement driven, middle class babies. Just my opinion.