The Philadelphia Police Raided My House
Submitted by onion on Thu, 06/19/2008 - 21:54
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 2:25 PM
dear friends,
this is something that i want to communicate to as many people as i know, and as many people as they know. please forward this widely.
on the morning of friday june 13th, three plain cloths cops and captian wilson of the ninth district of philadelphia came to my front door. they said they were responding to a complaint about "trespassing in an abandoned building". we have lived in our home for almost 4 years. we are curious about the origin of this "complaint." after one house mate answered the door, asked for a warrant and refused to let the police in they arrested him and stole his keys. they broke in. there was no warrant. they arrested myself and my two other roommates. when asked if there was a warrant they informed us that they didn't need one. we were also informed that we weren't arrested, but were detained...and under investigation.
fortunately, we called our incredible network of friends when we realized what was happening to our first house mate and they started to show up as witnesses. although the police were threatening to arrest folks who were trying to photograph the scene, seeing so much support made the cops squirm. it speaks to our power. and to their criminal behavior.
we were brought to the ninth district jail. we were not processed because there were no charges, but taken directly to two separate jail cells. we spent the next 14 hours asking for our phone call and information about charges. no one working in the jail seemed to have information or understand what was going on.
while were were being held in this basement cell, a whole host of police, detectives, crime scene investigators, the department of homeland security, state troopers, the housing authority and department of license and inspection (l & i) among others trespassed into our owned property...our home. after hours and hours of investigation nothing was found! we were released from jail, but were informed that l & i found heaps of code violation and were going to seal the building the next day.
i was released from jail at 3:30 on saturday morning. i then learned that in 6 and 1/2 hours (at 10 am) we would have 2 hours to move out of our home. in those two hours, we would only be allowed in to our home one at a time, under the supervision of police escorts. after 2 hours of collecting what we thought we would need for the next indeterminable amount of time l & i boarded all of our windows, and locked the front gate to our home. we are homeless, staying with friends, and trying to understand what happened.
some of you are not unfamiliar with experiences of unlawful arrest. it is important to recognize that police harassment is not unusual for people in our neighborhood, francisville. what happened to our home is an extreme case, but not an isolated incident. we live in a neighborhood that is predominantly poor and black. there is violence, crime, no grocery store, and few resources for the kids. we also sit between two areas that have experienced rapid economic development and transformed demographically. we are the last standing ghetto amongst all this development.
the city is transforming, and folks who don't fit into the agenda of that transformation are targeted by the police, who are employed by the developers. philadelphia is experiencing something mayor nutter calls "a crime emergency." it is a tool to justify marshal law, to suspend civil liberties more than ever. it is a tactic of repression. we talk to our neighbors, have community gardens, and give out free food weekly. and we were targeted. many folks are targeted not for choices they make, but rather the inability to make choices at all. poverty and race are the reasons they are targeted.
we want to go home. we want that home to be a place safe from police harassment. we want to hold the responsible parties accountable for their crimes. but beyond all those things we want to employ to voices of those who are so rarely heard. to call attention to the sources of the problems and not the symptoms. mayor nutter has responded to the needs of philadelphia by dramatically expanding the philadelphia police department. we are skeptical. we want to see real support for the communities that need it.
fortunately, we have the ability, for whatever reason, to reach out and ask for help. we have a phenomenal network of friends, activists, and community organizers. if you have skills, resources, questions, or suggestions please don't hesitate to respond. we have a lot of needs, and as they become more clear it will help to know who we can and should contact. thank you so much for taking the time to hear this story...please pass it along.
-jenrock
dear friends,
this is something that i want to communicate to as many people as i know, and as many people as they know. please forward this widely.
on the morning of friday june 13th, three plain cloths cops and captian wilson of the ninth district of philadelphia came to my front door. they said they were responding to a complaint about "trespassing in an abandoned building". we have lived in our home for almost 4 years. we are curious about the origin of this "complaint." after one house mate answered the door, asked for a warrant and refused to let the police in they arrested him and stole his keys. they broke in. there was no warrant. they arrested myself and my two other roommates. when asked if there was a warrant they informed us that they didn't need one. we were also informed that we weren't arrested, but were detained...and under investigation.
fortunately, we called our incredible network of friends when we realized what was happening to our first house mate and they started to show up as witnesses. although the police were threatening to arrest folks who were trying to photograph the scene, seeing so much support made the cops squirm. it speaks to our power. and to their criminal behavior.
we were brought to the ninth district jail. we were not processed because there were no charges, but taken directly to two separate jail cells. we spent the next 14 hours asking for our phone call and information about charges. no one working in the jail seemed to have information or understand what was going on.
while were were being held in this basement cell, a whole host of police, detectives, crime scene investigators, the department of homeland security, state troopers, the housing authority and department of license and inspection (l & i) among others trespassed into our owned property...our home. after hours and hours of investigation nothing was found! we were released from jail, but were informed that l & i found heaps of code violation and were going to seal the building the next day.
i was released from jail at 3:30 on saturday morning. i then learned that in 6 and 1/2 hours (at 10 am) we would have 2 hours to move out of our home. in those two hours, we would only be allowed in to our home one at a time, under the supervision of police escorts. after 2 hours of collecting what we thought we would need for the next indeterminable amount of time l & i boarded all of our windows, and locked the front gate to our home. we are homeless, staying with friends, and trying to understand what happened.
some of you are not unfamiliar with experiences of unlawful arrest. it is important to recognize that police harassment is not unusual for people in our neighborhood, francisville. what happened to our home is an extreme case, but not an isolated incident. we live in a neighborhood that is predominantly poor and black. there is violence, crime, no grocery store, and few resources for the kids. we also sit between two areas that have experienced rapid economic development and transformed demographically. we are the last standing ghetto amongst all this development.
the city is transforming, and folks who don't fit into the agenda of that transformation are targeted by the police, who are employed by the developers. philadelphia is experiencing something mayor nutter calls "a crime emergency." it is a tool to justify marshal law, to suspend civil liberties more than ever. it is a tactic of repression. we talk to our neighbors, have community gardens, and give out free food weekly. and we were targeted. many folks are targeted not for choices they make, but rather the inability to make choices at all. poverty and race are the reasons they are targeted.
we want to go home. we want that home to be a place safe from police harassment. we want to hold the responsible parties accountable for their crimes. but beyond all those things we want to employ to voices of those who are so rarely heard. to call attention to the sources of the problems and not the symptoms. mayor nutter has responded to the needs of philadelphia by dramatically expanding the philadelphia police department. we are skeptical. we want to see real support for the communities that need it.
fortunately, we have the ability, for whatever reason, to reach out and ask for help. we have a phenomenal network of friends, activists, and community organizers. if you have skills, resources, questions, or suggestions please don't hesitate to respond. we have a lot of needs, and as they become more clear it will help to know who we can and should contact. thank you so much for taking the time to hear this story...please pass it along.
-jenrock
