US Marshals got the jump on us. The LSC is being evicted now. pic.twitter.com/cYMiWdCttQ
— Lamont St Collective (@LSCdc) July 5, 2016
Lamont Street Collective residents are getting evicted from their Mount Pleasant home today.
Members of the 41-year-old artist, activist collective and their supporters are protesting—singing “Solidarity Forever” and chanting from the roof. They’re broadcasting the demonstration through Facebook Live.
The collective has been eligible for eviction since June 23, though legal woes for the group began more than a decade ago.
When a new landlord, Paul Repak, purchased the property for $531,000 in 2015, he told the court he intended to move his family into the Mount Pleasant abode. After a year of legal back-and-forth, a court mediated a settlement: Repak would pay $30,000 and the collective would move out by July 31 move-out date. But that settlement was nullified when Repak said he did not receive July’s rent (the collective insists they sent it).
Members of the collective have a new home in Petworth where they say they will continue to be a space for artists to create and collaborate.
“Our ideal is basically to continue the legacy of the collective, to continue the energy that’s been around for 40 some-odd years, and continue to be a positive force for the community we exist in,” says collective member Cody Valentine.
LSC hosted its final Salon de Libertad, an exhibition of art, on Lamont Street this weekend, and is planning another in their new home this fall.
Rachel Kurzius