Red House eviction defense

In early September 2020, Multnomah County sheriffs forcibly evicted the Kinney family. Members of the community rose in support of the family.[27]

Since September 2020,[28] activists, including those who have protested against systemic racism as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, have gathered at the home to protest the eviction of "a Black and Indigenous family that has lived there for over six decades and as a stand against further gentrification of the city's historically Black Albina neighborhood".[29][12][30] The house has become known as the "Red House on Mississippi",[12][30] or simply the "Red House".[31] Predatory lending and the criminal history of the family's son have been cited as reasons for financial difficulties leading to the foreclosure. The home was purchased at auction by Urban Housing Development LLC in 2018; the family disputes the new ownership of the house.[14] A judge ordered the family to be evicted in September 2020.[32] The family filed a federal lawsuit attempting to overturn the eviction.[33]

The sheriff's department stated that protestors have been "camping on adjacent privately owned and city-owned properties", and that 81 calls for service were made between September 1 and November 30, because of fights, shots fired, burglary, thefts, vandalism, noise violations and threats by armed individuals.[34][29]

Graffitied dumpsters near the site of the occupation on December 8, 2020

Around 5 a.m. on December 8, 2020, the Portland Police Bureau and Multnomah County Sheriff's Office arrived to evict residents, clear property, and render the house uninhabitable. They evicted the residents and arrested seven people with a small number of protesters present. The police left while anti-eviction activists threw rocks and paint balloons. Police returned to supervise the erection of a construction fence around the house, and protesters repelled the police around 10:30 a.m. Several police cars were damaged and had their tires deflated, and an officer drove into a parked car while retreating.[28][14][35][36]

While the day progressed, an estimated 200 activists reoccupied the property and constructed barricades to block all access to the house.[14][20] Protesters sealed off the intersections of North Mississippi Ave and North Albina Ave to the north of the house, as well as the surrounding entrances from North Skidmore Street and North Prescott Street. They also positioned guards at the entrances to the barricaded area.[13]

Part of a barricade near the Red House on December 8, 2020

Later on December 8, Mayor Ted Wheeler authorized the Portland Police Bureau to "use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation" and said, "there will be no autonomous zone in Portland. It's time for the encampment and occupation to end. There are many ways to protest and work toward needed reform. Illegally occupying private property, openly carrying weapons, threatening and intimidating people are not among them."[34] Supporters said that the Wheeler and Lovell statements seek to "criminalize the right of Afro-Indigenous people to bear arms". They further said that the enforcement of Oregon gun laws were being more aggressively applied against Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC), stating "We are threatened upon speculation, while known white supremacists continue to brandish arms without consequence."[37] A representative from Community Alliance of Tenants stated that "This is not a story of an autonomous zone. This is a story of systemic oppression."[24][38]

Barricade at Red House eviction defense on December 8, 2020

Barricade materials on December 13

On December 9, The Oregonian reported that guards, at least one of which was armed, had been posted at each intersection blocked by protesters, and that spike strips made of boards and nails were outside one of the barricades.[13] Willamette Week later described the guard as being part of "several physical barricades of protection and layers of guards... to make people of color feel safe standing around a fire pit" at the center of the space.[39] That same day, the Portland Police Bureau spoke to the illegality of the occupation and the possibility of violence on the site.[40] Describing this, the Portland Mercury stated that "the police continued spinning fear-mongering disinformation about the occupation".[41] On December 10, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that protestors have been forbidding people from taking pictures or video from within the occupied zone.[2] Most such confrontations have been verbal, though that policy has at times been enforced through violence.[2]

That same day, a co-owner of Urban Housing Development LLC offered to sell the property to the family for the price he paid at the foreclosure sale in 2018, stating that "we're overwhelmed by the attention to this" and that he fears for his family's safety.[42] The co-owner has been described as a house flipper and investor.[42][43]

On December 11 district attorney Mike Schmidt praised "the neighbors and community members who have refused to stand by silently" and who spoke out about what was happening, but stated that some neighbors were scared to leave their homes and that "continued violence, property damage, and harm to our community is inexcusable and will be met with aggressive prosecution."[29]

The director of the Coalition to Save Portland visited the Red House on December 11, and reported, among other things, that the Kinney family wanted a letter offering assurances that people would not be arrested or prosecuted if they worked to take down barriers.[44] Also on the 11th, a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to help the Kinney family repurchase their house surpassed $260,000, approximately the amount the developer paid for it in 2018.[45] By the 14th, the amount surpassed $300,000.[46]

Two days later, the Kinney family reached a tentative deal with the City of Portland, which would prevent the eviction as long as barricades would come down in the neighborhood.[47] The announcement was accompanied by an apology from the mayor and police chief for their tweets, in which they said that by referring to the protest as an attempted "autonomous zone" and issuing threats to the protesters, they had escalated the situation and resulted in threats to the family.[48]

Mac Smiff, a journalist and an activist involved in the protests, characterized the assurances and apology as a rare victory for protesters, and predicted that their impact would be felt across the nation.[48] The Kinney family echoed that sentiment in a statement,[49] as did City Council member Jo Ann Hardesty[50] and local news outlets.[23][8] In a press conference the following day, Mayor Wheeler expressed "disgust" at the idea that his own statements constituted a "win", saying that "we are talking about safety. And if you think that negotiating at the head of a gun is a win, you need to reevaluate."[22] He further stated that "nobody should take this as an invitation to do it anywhere else. The end result could turn out very differently."[22]

Wheeler also announced that the Kinney family and the developer had reached a "tentative" deal, but later retracted the claim.[51]

Following the announcement by the mayor and police chief, activists requested assistance in removing the barriers.[22] By December 14, they had been removed and traffic along Mississippi and Albina avenues had been restored.[49]

Willamette Week stated "if the closure of a major city street caused any neighborhood resentment, it hasn't been apparent", describing how a local coffeeshop, open during the defense, allowed activists to use their bathroom and that neighbors frequently purchased coffee for the activists. Residents also supplied material to build the barricade.[39] On December 17, KATU reported that protestors were out of the street, but that some were still camped at the house and on a neighboring lot. They stated that some neighbors were afraid to speak publicly, and that they said some protestors were still engaging in intimidating behavior.[52]

As of February 20, 2021, there were still people, many of them homeless, camping at the property and on an adjacent empty lot. Neighbors and local residents complained of harassment, vandalism, and personal threats by occupiers, and some emailed the city government asking that the area be cleared. The family raised $315,000 through GoFundMe, the Kinneys received the money but won’t use it to buy back the house. [9]