DeKalb County’s sheriff’s department recently treated the eviction of a four-generation family like a violent drug bust, all because the local Occupy Movement was helping her avoid losing the current homeowner home.

 

In the middle of the night, sheriff’s deputies stormed the home of Christine Frazer, who lived in the house with her mother, her daughter and her grandson—a family ranging in age from 85 to 3. Frazer’s husband, Leroy, died less than a year after the couple secured a loan with First Franklin Financial Corporation in 2002. Frazer subsequently lost her job and fell behind on her mortgage. She was in the process of trying to restructure her loan through the courts when a dozen police cars showed up at 3 am, with officers prepared for a battle.

 

Sheriff Thomas Brown said the show of force was necessary due to the presence of Occupy Atlanta on Frazier’s property. It was Brown’s belief the protesters—only one of whom was present the night of the eviction—might be armed, based on what he saw take place in Oakland, Washington D.C., and other cities last year.

 

Frazer’s loan was bought and sold several times. She was negotiating with the latest mortgage holder, foreclosure specialist Investors One Corporation, when the sheriff was given the okay to remove her from the house she had lived in for 18 years. Investors One is registered in White Plains, New York, but information about its owners is difficult to ascertain.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

Dozens of Police Evict Georgia Family at Gunpoint at 3am (by Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet)

Georgia County Sheriff Evicts Four-Generation Family In Raid Resembling 'Drug Bust' (by Allison Kilkenny, The Nation)

Occupy Our Homes: Christine Frazer's Story (occupyatlanta.org) (video)

Christine Carter-Frazer v. Investors One Corp. et al (Superior Court of DeKalb County) (pdf)