Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were confronted by homeless advocates today as they tried to evict a 70-year-old El Sereno man from a vacant home owned by Caltrans.
Benito Flores has been squatting in the boarded-up home, which was acquired for Caltrans' now-abandoned 710 Freeway expansion project, for five years. He and other unhoused people sought shelter there during the pandemic.
“Five years later, the Housing Authority of the City of L.A. is evicting them one by one and not taking responsibility for housing them permanently,” Fanny Guzman with Reclaiming Our Homes told KNX News’ Karen Adams.
Flores stood his ground when deputies arrived to remove him on Tuesday. He said he resisted in protest against the state’s failure to ensure people have access to affordable housing.
“If they take me to the street, I'm going to die very soon,” he told KNX News’ Karen Adams. “So I choose to die here.”
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The deputies left after Flores showed them papers which he claimed proved that the eviction was illegal, but they said they’d be back.
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