The capitalist system and the private property regime it relies on are underwritten by state violence. A particularly visible example of this is occurs when property owners call upon armed agents of the state to forcibly remove people and their belongings from their homes during evictions.

I wanted to share one such case that I was involved with in a minor way. I was an activist in Washington, DC when I learned about the case of Dawn Butler, and was involved in actions designed to prevent her eviction. Ultimately we were unsuccessful and she was made homeless by agents of the state acting on behalf of a major bank.

>It was supposed to be a serendipitous tale of the American Dream: A tenant, through a combination of luck and hard work, purchases the home she had been renting for six years. Dawn Butler was willing to buy the house, her landlord was willing to cede the house, and even the bank at one point was willing to let her take over the mortgage. However, real estate lawyers Rosenberg & Associates insisted on forcing a foreclosure. Butler was denied a court hearing at every turn. (http://msamricth.github.io/occupyourhomesdc.org/tag/dawn/index.html)

However, with the help of activists, she was able to delay the foreclosure.

>At 9 AM, Monday, April 2nd, J.P. Morgan Chase directed U.S. Marshals to evict Dawn Butler from her home on Maryland Avenue NE in Capitol Hill. With a strong show of force over 40 activists were present and determined to defend Ms. Butler's home from eviction. Metro Washington Police and the moving crew had arrived while activists sang songs and blocked the staircase. At the same time, Ms. Butler was at Landlord and Tenant court in Northwest Washington and successfully requested that the judge call off the eviction. (http://occupyourhomes.org/blog/2012/apr/2/occupy-dc-eviction-delay/)

Yet a delay was all it turned out to be. The eviction was conducted on June 5, 2016.

>Over thirty Occupy Our Homes DC activists came to Butler's home yesterday as DC police and US Marshalls were poised to evict her on Chase's behalf. While Butler was in court trying again to stop the eviction, her mother was on hand as Occupy activists constructed a blockade at the front door of their home. US Marshalls and DC police eventually used brute force to remove the Occupiers who had peacefully sat down to defend Dawn's home. (http://occupyourhomes.org/blog/2012/jun/6/occupy-homes-dc-butler-eviction/)

## Here is a video of some of the events of that day. (I'm the balding guy in the red shirt.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6S7qA9lvik

Some additional photos from the scene:

<center>http://dcist.com/attachments/dcist_bfreed/06052012_occupyhome3.jpg</center>
<center>*A friend of mine unconscious in the street; a victim of excessive force from the U.S. Marshals.*</center>


<center>http://dcist.com/attachments/dcist_bfreed/06052012_occupyhome2.jpg</center>
<center>*Minimum wage day laborers are brought in to pile the belongings of the newly homeless on the street*</center>


<center>http://dcist.com/attachments/dcist_bfreed/06052012_occupyhome5.jpg</center>
<center>*Another of my friends shows the evidence of excessive force*</center>