UK: Major case management hearing ahead of an upcoming High Court case on anti-Traveller wide injunctions

On Thursday 17th December 2020, a major case management hearing took place ahead of an upcoming High Court case on anti-Traveller wide injunctions, due to be held in January 2021.

Since 2015, councils have increasingly used injunctions to prevent Gypsies and Travellers from stopping on council-owned land. The majority of people who pull up on land in this way have nowhere else to go due to councils’ failure to identify land for sites and stopping places.

Despite this, anyone found to be breaking an anti-Traveller injunction faces criminal action. A landmark Court of Appeal ruling in the London Borough of Bromley V Persons Unknown and London Gypsies and Travellers case, denied Bromley Council’s injunction against “Persons Unknown” and set strict criteria for local authorities to meet before applying for these injunctions, such as providing transit sites.
[Read More]

Seattle: House squatted and evicted

Puget Sound Anarchists reports that activists from the Cal Anderson Community in Settle recently occupied a vacant building on December 16 and it was found empty by cops on December 18 when homeless people were again evicted from the park in a sweep which happens monthly.

Press release from December 16:
Activists from Cal Anderson Community occupy vacant building while facing sweep; demand a stop to sweeps and housing for all

Facing an eviction notice for 7:30 am Wednesday morning, dozens of housed and unhoused activists occupied a vacant house at 1006 East Denny, on the Northeast corner of Cal Anderson Park. At 3:30 pm Wednesday, these members of the community, which has formed over the past six months around Black Lives Matter and homeless advocacy, dropped a banner stating “Housing Is a Human Right!”
[Read More]

Manchester: Winter Shelter update

Well, time to check in with you all.

As you have probably gathered there is no shelter this winter. It became an impossible situation. We are continuing to distribute clothing etc to Outreach, and recently furniture and household goods to 1st Homer’s. Bless all involved and it’s been lovely to meet you. X

We kitted out the squat lot with fridge freezer, beds, bedding, pots, pans, plates, cups, food, dog beds and blankets, clothing, towels, toiletries, everything to give them a good start.

Hopefully they will remain safe from eviction for the winter. It was not possible to engage further with them. We hope they get the help they so obviously need.

MERRY CHRISTMAS ❤
Manchester Winter Shelter

Brighton: Using Space 15 about the squats of London Road

Using Space is a zine about squats, social centres and alternative ways of living

Recent (2020) squats in Brighton on the short stretch of London Road which goes from St. Peters Church up to Preston Circus led me to reflect on this area’s incredibly active radical history. To focus on just one element, let’s walk past the sites of former squats on London Road …

This is a 28 page zine which is presented A4 sized and can be easily printed brochure to make a A5 zine. Download here or at cobblebooks.

UK: Latest Rupture is out now

The latest edition of the long-running DIY culture zine RUPTURE is OUT NOW via online PDF format! Grab it Rupture_zine_2020_autumn or at Rupture

This issue features:
• LASIT terrorism unit editorial
• Nantes Bites Back – free party resistance in France
• A Rant From a Raver (who’s not going out much)
• Power in Plants collage zine pages by Heather Hughes
• Modern Witch Movement and Samhain piece by Morgasmik
• The Bread Bin short story by Lucy Hutson
• Squatting at 17 – anonymous writing
• ‘Dear readers’ – lockdown rant by Dr C Distortion
• Poetry by Jack Houston, Refstrolls and Laura Hughes
• Art by Arki Grynberg, CATWF, Joe Fur, Jess Hudsley and Olive in Dreamland
• Lockdown subvertising photos from Illustre Feccia

You can also check out the full archive at: https://rupturezine.org/
Send contributions for the next issue to: info [at] rupturezine [dot] org

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Valencia (Spain): CSOA Horta evicted and reoccupied

Yesterday morning, CSOA Horta, an 8 year-old squat in Valencia’s Benimaclet district, was evicted illegally & unexpectedly. Αfter the huge mobilization by solidarians & neighbors the cops left the area & the social center was re-occupied 2 hours later.

Solidarity is our weapon!

Valencia: Neighborhood of Benimaclet stops the attempt to evict the CSOA l’Horta

Early in the morning the National Police changed the locks and installed anti-occupation doors in the CSOA l’Horta in Benimaclet (Valencia), a fact to which the neighborhood has responded by gathering against the action dictated by the Sareb, according to the collective in defense of the CSOA, which has managed to expel the police operation and reoccupy the center.

The mobile phones of several people woke up this morning with an important message: “Illegal eviction in the CSOA l’Horta. There are police surrounding the space inside and outside. They’ve put up three anti-occupation gates, and they’re using grinders”. The police operation, witnesses say, consisted of about 8 police vans. Through the same media channels, the activist collective called on the neighbourhood to go immediately to the surroundings of the centre. In barely an hour, dozens of people from Benimaclet and other neighbourhoods gathered to oppose the police action that the collective claims is illegal. [Read More]

Canada: Coast-to-coast Call to Action – Compilation of submissions

While North Shore was down in late November and early December, we received three submissions from BC and Quebec about actions taken there in solidarity with the Coast to Coast Call to Action being circulated by Wet’suwet’en land defenders involved with Gidim’ten checkpoint. The three are below, all were received anonymously.

[Read More]

Portland (USA): The Red House and the Future of Eviction Defense

To the Barricades

Portland, Oregon has been in the headlines again over the last few days, and this trend will continue.  The reasons for the headlines will vary depending on who you ask.  If you ask the far right they will say something about Antifa terrorists having violent confrontations with the police because they hate law and order.  The mainstream media’s headlines will also tend to lead with the so-called violent clashes, but then they may inform us that the reasons for the confrontation have to do with folks trying to prevent the eviction of a Black and indigenous family that has lived in the Red House at 4406 North Mississippi for multiple generations. [Read More]

Hannover (Germany): New squat evicted

On Sunday December 6, a freshly squatted building in Hannover was evicted. Twelve people from the group “Sonst besetzen wir” had occupied it during a housing protest of about 800 people. The city then decided to evict and police took the details of those who stayed inside, they might be charged with trespass.

“Sonst besetzen wir” released a statement saying “For more than a year and a half, the houses at Schulenburger Landstrasse 158, which are owned by the city of Hannover, have been largely empty. Despite worthy announcements, the city has not yet renovated them and made them available to homeless people. In view of the corona pandemic and temperatures being at freezing point, urgent action must be taken.” [machine translation]

Toulouse: police operation in a squat

This Tuesday, December 8th at 6 am, a large police force breaks down the door of a squat in Toulouse, to pick up 2 people and their trucks. We see outside a dozen CRS vans, several OPJ cars, and other hardly identifiable units. They are masked and armed, and about fifty of them are walking around the building. In their words, the objective is “a police operation targeting two people”.
The cops go directly to the trucks of the targeted people who will be picked up as well as their vehicles which leave on two tow trucks.
In addition to filming the entire operation, the cops take pictures of the buildings, the faces of the people around, the license plates, the vehicles and the dogs. Apart from the vehicles and these two, nothing else is taken, they do not search more. In 1 hour the operation is finished and the cops leave.
We’ve heard that the same type of operations took place precisely at the same time in other cities. [Read More]

UK: Eviction moratorium 2?

A letter from the Lord Chancellor (which we have) says that the High Court bailiffs (and we understand County Court too but they’re less of an issue) have agreed not to carry out evictions from residential properties in Tiers 2 and 3 areas, and everywhere from December 11 to January 11.

We hope that this, and waving a copy of this letter at bailiffs and cops should be enough to stop possession orders being acted on for the moment but fear this is not enough.

Let us know what happens where you are ….

Advisory Service for Squatters
Phone: 07545508628
(not currently 020 3216 0099)
Email: advice4squatters [at] gmail [dot] com
(not currently advice [at] squatter [dot] org [dot] uk)