Detroit housing activists created a human wall — that led to a violent confrontation with officials — in a failed bid to stop the eviction of a woman suffering from kidney disease Tuesday morning.
Bailiffs battled with a group of 30 people with Detroit Eviction Defense that argued Taura Brown, 44, was being unfairly ousted from her tiny home in Wayne County, according to reports. The activists linked arms as the officials aggressively tried to break through their blockade, the Detroit News reported.
Footage posted on social media showed the bailiffs grabbing and pushing activists who stood in front of the door to keep Brown in her home.
One video, shot by Detroit Metro Times journalist Steve Neavling, shows bailiffs shoving the activists until local police broke up some of the scuffles.
Bailiffs slugged activists in the face, kicked them and yanked them to the ground, Detroit Metro Times reported.
The tense situation began around 9 a.m. after Brown, who has Stage 5 kidney disease and relies on dialysis, lost a two-year legal fight to stay in her home that is part of a neighborhood of unique tiny homes, the publication reported.
Brown and her supporters reportedly said she was being booted from her home in retaliation for shining a light on problems at Cass Community Social Services, a non-profit that designed the homes for low-income residents.
CCSS claimed it did not renew her lease because she does not live at the home more than 50% of the time and her name was on another lease in the city, the Detroit News reported. Brown argued she worked at the other apartment building, where her then-boyfriend lived so she could come and go when she wanted.
The bailiffs eventually forced their way through a back door and Brown was escorted out, according to the Detroit News. Movers collected her stuff and threw it on the porch.
“There are people that are home even less than me, and they are not facing eviction, this is personal,” Brown said according to Fox 2.
“I’m feeling confident fighting back. We are not done. We are just getting started,” she added.
The 36th District Court stood by its decision to evict.
“Over the last 19 months, Taura Brown’s case went through the judicial system and all proper legal procedures were followed. At each step, Ms. Brown exercised her rights as a tenant and received due process,” the court told the station.
“Based on the merits of the case, 36th District Court Judge Shawn Jacque ruled that the plaintiff had no further legal right to remain in possession of the … property.”