Tasers,
Pepper Spray And Arrests
In The Struggle For Affordable Housing In New Orleans
By
Bill Quigley
29 December,
2007
Countercurrents.org
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 4500 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. (See video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMBWAXfGsc4
)
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
4500 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 4500 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 doubled since Katrina. Thousands of residents
in FEMA trailers across the Gulf Coast were being evicted.
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, the Mayor of New Orleans, 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: http://www.justiceforneworleans.org
or http://www.defendneworleanspublichousing.org
Bill
Quigley is a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola
University New Orleans. Bill is one of the lawyers for displaced residents.
You can contact him at [email protected].
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