Oakland Uses SWAT Force With Tanks and an Armored Vehicle To Evict Squatting Activists – By Billy Binion (Reason) / Jan 15 2020
A group of homeless mothers moved into an Oakland, California, home they didn’t own.
A SWAT team supplied with tanks and a Bearcat armored vehicle evicted a group of homeless activists on Tuesday morning after they refused to leave an Oakland, California, residence that they do not own.
Dressed in riot gear, deputies from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the house on Magnolia Street around 5:30 a.m. Officers used a battering ram to enter the residence and arrested three squatters for obstruction and resisting arrest after they reportedly refused to leave the home. The targets of the raid were members of Moms 4 Housing, a group that describes itself as a “collective of homeless and marginally housed mothers” who believe that housing is a fundamental human right.
Protesters criticized the deputies and juxtaposed what they perceived as an unnecessary display of force—replete with military vehicles—against a group of peaceful activists. “They came in like an Army for mothers and babies,” Dominique Walker, a leader at Moms 4 Housing, said. “We have the right to housing. This is just the beginning.”
Sgt. Ray Kelly justified the approach to the eviction, telling the Fox affiliate that projectiles were hurled at the officers and that the activists’ barricade was fortified enough to require a battering ram. He also said that he recognized “violent” individuals in the crowd from previous Bay Area protests.
Continue to article: https://reason.com/2020/01/15/oakland-uses-swat-force-with-tanks-and-an-armored-vehicle-to-evict-squatting-activists/
