Yesterday, January 23rd, five cop vehicles, and eventually a firetruck, showed up and entered buildings, having tenants initially fearing that they were there to ask questions about immigration again in another unexpected raid. Instead, they threatened tenants with arrest for trying to access water when two of the four buildings (1238 and 1248 Dallas St) had been without water for five days due to broken pipes and severe flooding.
Tenants complained that they have had no way to bathe their children or cook food this past week, and are desperate for support. While they are still working hard to apply to other locations, the process takes time, and conditions have been plummeting due to extreme cold in the middle of a harsh snow front. The City has also completely removed their dumpsters, causing unsanitary pile-ups that attract pests and endanger their children.
While advocates were on the scene as the police were leaving, an Aurora water vehicle pulled up and parked on the street. They expected to see workers come out to talk to residents but instead pulled away ten minutes later, never having left the vehicle.
Though the building is set to be condemned sometime in mid-February (according to the Aurora City attorney), that does not mean that the City of Aurora can just abandon the remaining families in the middle of a cold winter and deny their most basic needs to survive.
Since police were the ones to show up to the scene, they threatened mothers and fathers with arrest for attempting to access water from their neighbors’ buildings on the same property. They also posted an old notice from September regarding a “pattern of criminal activity” but no official order regarding the impending condemnation of the buildings. This is disgusting behavior, and a completely inappropriate response. These families have been treated inhumanely for long enough. Please don’t make this any harder than it already is – since you have done nothing to relocate families and since it takes time for housing applications to be processed, you must fix the water access and return the dumpster and trash collection now!!!
CALL-TO-ACTION: Check out our GoFundMe for how much has been spent in relocation support so far & donate to protect those still in need!!! https://gofund.me/19160efb
Media contacts:
- V Reeves (they/them), Housekeys Action Network Denver – 701-484-2634, info@housekeysactionnetwork.com
- Kevin Patterson (they/them), The Redress Movement – 720-422-5340, kpatterson@redressmovement.org
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