A tenants’ rights group in Kansas City, Missouri, chained the doors of the local courthouse closed on Thursday. The group says, “every eviction is an act of violence.”
Members of an anti-eviction group blockaded the Jackson County Courthouse in Kansas City and chained the entrance and exits closed, KCTV CBS5 reported. The KC Tenants group tweeted a message stating, “All evictions are an act of violence.”
BREAKING: KC Tenants has blockaded the court entrance. 6 people have chained the doors. The people have closed court for today. Every eviction is an act of violence. #endevictions pic.twitter.com/lkyn0vXosL
— KC Tenants (@KCTenants) October 15, 2020
A video tweeted by the group shows protesters first placing a board between the door handles to prevent anyone inside from getting out or stopping their efforts to chain the doors shut. It appears the building was occupied at the time of the action.
Evictions are a death sentence for our most vulnerable neighbors. While eviction is already a fundamentally traumatic event, both a cause and a condition of poverty, the pandemic adds yet more anguish.
All evictions are an act of violence. pic.twitter.com/iJjQWPuEcF
— KC Tenants (@KCTenants) October 15, 2020
KC Tenants leader Tiana Caldwell: We came here to take back our city #endevictions pic.twitter.com/MESa7y9iya
— KC Tenants (@KCTenants) October 15, 2020
Another person criticized the Missouri courts for proceeding with evictions for non-payment of rent despite a moratorium through the end of the year put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Despite a nationwide moratorium forbidding evictions for nonpayment of rent, Kansas City judges have sided with landlords and are proceeding with these evictions anyway. Hundreds of people have been evicted every month, right at the beginning of a 2nd COVID wave and cold temps.
— Eli CURSED | He/Him (@ZapDynamic) October 15, 2020
The New York Times reported in September that the CDC declared “individual renters expecting to make under $99,000 in 2020 are protected until the end of the year if they sign a declaration — under penalty of perjury — that eviction would be likely to leave them homeless or force them to live in close quarters with others.”
A district court in Jackson County issued an order of clarification regarding evictions that allows landlords to proceed with the eviction process if the landlord states the tenant has not signed the required declaration, the New York newspaper reported.
Earlier this month, KC Tenants and the ACLU teamed up to file a lawsuit seeking to block the 16th Circuit’s court order.
“Attorneys for the ACLU argue the Missouri court order goes against a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention temporary ban on evictions intended to help with social distancing and make it easier for sick or at-risk communities to self-isolate,” the Associated Press reported.
KC Tenants claims to have shut down court proceedings for the day and maybe longer.
WE JUST SHUT DOWN EVERY SINGLE MORNING DOCKET and this is our message: pic.twitter.com/nVpkeqTNUm
— KC Tenants (@KCTenants) October 15, 2020
In a statement tweeted by the group, organizers stated, “Two KC Tenants leaders were unlawfully detained by Jackson County Deputy Sheriffs after taking this act of civil disobedience. They are now free.”
They also claim “One judge was heard saying that she’s continuing all her cases from this morning to November. That means they’re delayed for at least a few weeks.”
One judge was heard saying that she’s continuing all her cases from this morning to November. That means they’re delayed for at least a few weeks. The TENANTS did that
— KC Tenants (@KCTenants) October 15, 2020
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.
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