Fort Hernandez, Symbol Of Occupy's Anti-Foreclosure Stance, Evicted
A long-running eviction dispute led to an LA County Sheriff's Department operation at the home Thursday in Van Nuys.
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A bastion of the contemporary Occupy movement is no more. A foreclosed house dubbed Fort Hernandez was cleared out by sheriff's deputies early this morning, observers report.
The eviction after a four-month sit-in at the Hernandez family home in Van Nuys was reported about 4:30 a.m. The eviction of 18 people, including four to six family members and 12 occupiers, and 5 dogs went smoothly, with no arrests or injuries.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department carried out the eviction with armored vehicles and nearly 100 police personnel.
Dump trucks were brought in to break down the encampment.
“They were living in tents and hadn’t paid the mortgage for about 4 years,” according to L.A. Co. Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Occupiers fed up with big-bank foreclosures, particularly in light of the federal bailout in 2008, upheld Fort Hernandez as a symbol since late August.
They say there are more empty homes in the same Van Nuys neighborhood than there are homeless.
A Bank of America spokesperson said, “We have made multiple attempts to offer Mr. Hernandez assistance since he stopped making payments in 2008. Prior to foreclosure, we requested financial documents over a 6-month period, but Mr. Hernandez never submitted the necessary documentation for us to complete our review.”
Hernandez said his only hope is to fight the bank in court.