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Tasers, Pepper Spray, and Arrests
The Struggle for Affordable Housing in New Orleans
By Bill Quigley
12/29/07 "ICH"
--- -In a remarkable symbol of the injustices of post-Katrina
reconstruction, hundreds of people were locked out of a public
New Orleans City Council meeting addressing demolition of 4,500
public housing apartments. Some were tasered, many pepper
sprayed, and a dozen arrested. Outside the chambers, iron gates
were chained and padlocked even before the scheduled start.
The
scene
looked like one of those countries on TV that is undergoing
a people's revolution -- and the similarities were only
beginning.
Dozens of uniformed police secured the gates and other
entrances. Only developers and those with special permission
from council members were allowed in -- the rest were kept
locked outside the gates. Despite dozens of open seats in the
council chambers, pleas to be allowed in were ignored.
Chants of "Housing is a human right!" and "Let us in!" thundered
through the concrete breezeway.
Public housing residents came and spoke out despite an intense
campaign of intimidation. Residents were warned by phone that if
they publicly opposed the demolitions, they would lose all
housing assistance. Residents opposed to the demolition had
simple demands. If the authorities insisted on spending hundreds
of millions to tear down hundreds of structurally sound
buildings containing 4,500 public housing subsidized apartments,
there should be a guarantee that every resident could return to
a similarly subsidized apartment. Alternatively, the government
should use the hundreds of millions to repair the apartments so
people could come home. Neither alternative was acceptable to
HUD. A plan of residents to partner with the AFL-CIO Housing
Trust to save their homes was also ignored.
Outside, SWAT team members and police in riot gear and on horses
began to arrive as rain started falling. Those locked out
included public housing residents, a professor from Southern
University, graduate students, the Episcopal Bishop of
Louisiana, ministers, lawyers, law students, homeless people who
lived in tents across the street from City Hall, affordable
housing allies from across the country, and dozens of others.
Inside the chambers, Revered Torin Sanders and others insisted
that the locked out be allowed to come and stand inside along
the walls -- a common practice for over 30 years. No one could
recall any City Council locking people out of a public meeting.
The request to allow people to stand was denied. The Council
then demanded silence from those inside. Those who continued to
demand that the others be let in were pointed out by police,
physically taken down, and arrested. Ironically, some young men
were tasered right in front of the speaker's podium.
This was a meeting the council had repeatedly tried to avoid. It
was only held after residents (100% African American and nearly
all mothers and grandmothers) got an emergency court order
stopping demolitions until the council acted. The U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced long
ago it was going to demolish 4,500 public housing apartments
despite the Katrina crisis of affordable housing, no matter what
anyone said. HUD had no plans to ask the council or anyone else
for approval. The judge said otherwise, so the meeting was
scheduled.
Leaders of the U.S. Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, asked
that the decision be delayed 60 days so they could try to move
forward on Senate Bill 1668, which would resolve many of the
demolition problems. This request was backed by New Orleans
Congressman William Jefferson, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu
and Presidential candidates John Edwards and Barack Obama.
Opponents cited the affordable housing crisis in New Orleans.
Homeless people camped across from City Hall and for blocks
under the interstate. The number of homeless people have doubled
since Katrina. Thousands of residents in FEMA trailers across
the Gulf Coast were being evicted.
More on the reasons to oppose demolition can be found
here.
Solidarity demonstrations opposing demolition were held in
Washington DC, New York, Oakland, Minneapolis, Houston, North
Carolina, Maine, Philadelphia, Cleveland, New Jersey, and
Boston. Thousands of people across the country contacted city
council members. Dozens of community, housing, and human rights
groups petitioned the Council not to demolish until there was an
enforceable requirement of one-for-one replacement of housing.
But hours before the meeting began, a majority of the council
publicly announced on the front page of the local paper that
they were going to approve demolition, no matter what people
said at the meeting. The paper, the developers, and others were
delighted. Residents and affordable housing allies were not.
Inside, the council started the meeting surrounded by armed
police, National Guard, and undercover authorities from many law
enforcement agencies.
Outside, the locked out could see the people who had been
arrested on the inside being dragged away to police wagons. A
few of the protestors then pulled open one of the gates. The
police started shooting arcs of pepper spray into the crowd. A
woman's scream pierced the chaos as police fired tasers into the
crowd. Medics wiped pepper spray from fallen people's eyes. A
young woman who was tasered in the back went into a seizure and
was taken to the hospital.
Inside and out, a dozen people were arrested -- most for
disturbing the peace. They joined another dozen who had been
arrested over the past week in protest actions against the
demolitions.
The City Council meeting continued. Supporters of demolition
were given careful, courteous attention and softball questions
by council members. Opponents less so.
Despite pleas from displaced residents, dozens of community
organizations, and federal elected officials, the New Orleans
City Council voted unanimously to allow demolition to proceed.
In their approval, the Council did promise to urge HUD to listen
to residents and to work for one-for-one replacement of
affordable housing. Several city council members read from typed
statements about their reasons to support demolition: the
deplorable state of public housing; the lack of available money
for repair; the oral promises of all, the federal government and
developers, to do something better for the community.
After the meeting, residents vowed to continue their struggle
for affordable housing for everyone and to resist demolitions --
putting their bodies before bulldozers if necessary.
The struggle for affordable housing continues as does the
campaign to stop demolition until there is a real right to
return and one-for-one replacement of housing. Residents and
local advocates applaud and appreciate the support of allies
from across the nation. Critics label national supporters as
"outside agitators" -- exactly the same charge leveled at civil
rights activists historically. But people understand that
injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Public
housing residents and local affordable housing advocates welcome
the humble participation of social justice advocates of whatever
age, of whatever race, from whatever place, who join and act in
true solidarity.
Residents vow to make sure that the promises made by the Council
and the Mayor are enforced. For example, New Orleans Mayor Ray
Nagin announced that he would not allow HUD to demolish two of
the four housing developments until HUD gave documentation of
funded plans including one-for-one replacement of the housing
demolished and details of the developments and their plans.
The Senate will continue to be lobbied to pass SB 1668 -- which
would really guarantee one-for-one replacement of housing. It is
currently stalled in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee because of opposition by Louisiana Republican
Senator David Vitter.
Litigation is still pending in state and federal courts to
enforce Louisiana and U.S. laws that should protect residents
from illegal demolitions. Investigations into the legality of
locking people out of a public meeting, the legality of a law
passed at such a meeting, the indiscriminate use of tasers and
pepper spray, are all ongoing.
Padlocked and chained gates will only amplify the voices of the
locked out calling for justice. Pepper spray and tasers
illustrate the problems but will not deter people from
protesting for just causes. Bulldozers may start up, but just
people will resist and create a reality where housing is a real
human right.
Stephanie Mingo, a working grandmother who is one of the leaders
of the residents, promised to continue the resistance after the
meeting: "We did not come this far to turn back now. This fight
is far from over. We are not resting until everyone has the
right to return home."
Those wanting additional
information should look to:
justiceforneworleans.org or
defendneworleanspublichousing.org
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