Author Archives: sbashiri

Link to video of Dekalb police illegally arresting an Occupier while in the midst of a “routine” patrol of a quiet street on the morning of April 10th, 2012. Make no mistake: The police were here for an eviction but the house was defended and no such eviction took place.

Today at the home of Christine Frazer, a Dekalb County Marshal entered the property and attempted to find the homeowner, most likely to inform that an eviction would be happening soon afterwords.After being confronted by those of Occupy Atlanta present, the Marshal left the property. Very soon afterwards, Dekalb police began to show up and block off the entrance to the street. At one time seven or eight police cars were visible. Activists of Occupy Atlanta made preparations to defend the home. The media was called twice: Channel 2 (ABC), Channel 5 (Fox), Channel 11 (NBC), and Channel 46 (CBS). They did not send any news crew to the home. Neighbors and activists within Occupy Atlanta were mobilized and began filming the police. The Dekalb police claimed to know nothing of any eviction; they stated they were simply doing a “routine” patrol of the street. One activist stood in the street inside a tent in front of the police. The police gave orders to clear the street to which the occupier complied. The police then arrested him while in the driveway of the Frazer home. This arrest is immoral and illegal.

Occupy Atlanta calls for his immediate release and an apology from the Dekalb Police Department. Occupy Atlanta
also calls upon the Dekalb Sheriff, Marshals, as well as the Dekalb Police Department to immediately  publicly state they will not evict the Frazer family who live at the address 3662 Wellhaun Road, Decatur, Georgia. Occupy Atlanta also calls upon Investors One Corporation and their law firm, Shapiro & Swertfeger to quit their pursuit of evicting
the Frazer family and stealing their home and property.

Banks and corporate entities have been stealing from the 99% for too long. Now we are fighting back. Families are fighting back. The time of wholesale theft of homes by the 1% is over.

Foreclosure: a household grapples with unemployment, illness, or even death. But what about the story regarding a possible eviction?  For Christine Frazer and her family this is no longer just a debate.    We at Occupy Atlanta have been educating ourselves since October — When we took the park, and November –when we started Home Defense, about how the process works.  There’s foreclosure, dispossessory, and then eviction.   Eviction is where the threat of muscle is no longer just a threat.

But,  that is where Occupy Atlanta comes into play. The variables are, for the most part, the same as they have ever been. The system has the judicial system, law enforcement, and the law itself inexorably moving towards one end: eviction for a family of four. That’s four human beings and four generations. However, there is one variable that is independent. Or perhaps two. Activists that comprise Occupy Atlanta do not shy away from confrontation but instead form a wall of defiance against laws and functionaries of an unjust system. We will be arrested and we will resist. We do not relent. We do not contemplate a timetable or an end date. The second variable is that of the community and the social will in general. The 99% will only suffer in silence for so long. Then they will speak. When they are not heard or responded to, they will act. Christine Frazer has done just that. She is bucking a system. This system believes that it is justifiable, in the eyes of the law then presumably in the eyes of justice, to force an elderly person and a dependent child into homelessness. This is patently wrong. Decent persons will not stand idly by in this situation. The Frazer family is in the end-stage of the system in place; they are facing imminent eviction at the hands of the DeKalb Marshals with the help of a company hired by the entity Investors One Corps. We call on Investors One Corps to work with the Frazer family and give up the property. We call on the Marshal’s office to not force homelessness upon this family. We call on any eviction company who would be willing to forcibly remove the belongings of the Frazer family onto the side of the road to rethink any such proposal; the money is not worth the human cost. And finally, we call upon all Georgians, and especially those native to South Dekalb and Decatur, to support the Frazer family of 3662 Wellhaun road, decatur, georgia. Let’s shame a shameless system into doing what is right and give the Frazer family their home back. Start here: there are a limited number of companies in the greater Atlanta Metro Area who do ”Eviction Services”.   They are currently overworked.   Let’s let them know that the Frazer’s home at 3663 Wellhaum is off limits!

The state of Georgia ranked fourth in the nation for foreclosures at the end of last year, with more foreclosures expected. Along with many other metro Atlanta counties, DeKalb County and South Decatur have especially been hit hard by the housing bubble and crash.  Ms. Christine Frazer, a 62 year old widow, along with four generations of the Frazer family are being threatened with eviction from the place they have called home since 1994. Mrs. Frazer refinanced her home in 2001; but after losing her husband in 2002, taking in her elderly mother in 2003, losing her job in 2009 due to a “no-fault, one-minute-late tardy policy,” and being denied unemployment after two appeals, she was left with no way to pay her mortgage.

The very same crumbling economy that caused the value of Chris’ home to depreciate left her hopeless in today’s damaged job market. Mrs. Frazer’s home was foreclosed on in October of 2011 after faithfully paying her mortgage for over 15 years! Investors One Corporation sent her a statement claiming she had to pay $176,000 on a house that the very same document stated is only worth $40,000. There is no sense in expecting such a large amount of money for a home that has lost so much value. Evicting this family means evicting an 85 year old great-grandmother and her 3 year old great-grandson. Why kick a family to the curb and allow a home to sit unoccupied? It would make much more sense to allow for a new mortgage, based on the current value of the home.  This foreclosure is wrongful and Occupy Atlanta will assist Ms. Frazer in the fight to expose the fraudulent actions that have taken place. Many other families and individuals across America have fallen victim to these unlawful practices and Occupy Atlanta is fighting against such injustices. Occupy Atlanta has once again made a foray into the suburbs of Atlanta where so many families have been and are currently struggling to keep themselves afloat.

Occupy Atlanta hopes to not only save the Frazer home, but assist the community at large in helping find solutions to local problems. Too many homes nearby sit bank owned and vacant, or even worse: abandoned and in varying states of disrepair. This brings down the home values of EVERY home in the area and dampens the mood of the community. Let’s make Decatur a focal point for resisting foreclosures and foster a spirit of community that cares for and takes care of one another. We can start by saving the Frazer home. Come and join the fight!