More than 100 tenants and advocates, organized by the Regional Tenant Organizing Network, blocked eviction hearings at the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, California Wednesday morning, protesting the displacement of renters during the coronavirus pandemic. Protesters blocking the courthouse entrance effectively shut down the court in the morning hours before being violently removed by County Sheriff’s Deputies. Nine protesters were arrested on the charge of disrupting court operations. Despite the ongoing pandemic, intensive care units nearing capacity, over 400 daily COVID-19 deaths in California alone and the extension of a federal eviction moratorium by the Biden administration, evictions continue apace throughout the state. In the heart of Silicon Valley, the home of Facebook, Alphabet/Google, Apple, Netflix and Tesla, impoverished workers are being kicked onto the street while being told to “stay home” to slow the spread of COVID-19.
— source wsws.org | 28 Jan 2021