Sharon Jasper, a fierce community activist from New Orleans, led a sit-in at the Columbia Parc realty office on May 28th, 2010. She led her fellow public housing residents there to demand justice for their community, to demand the right to move into the new housing that was supposed to replace their former homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

She didn't get justice. Instead, she was accused of assaulting a real estate agent, a move residents say was made to keep her from creating problems for a housing authority that seems to want to ignore low-income residents. Sit-in attendees say there was no assault, pointing out that the agent continued to work in the office, and that when police arrived, they made no mention of an assault when talking to the residents. Still, a few days later, a SWAT team arrived at Jasper's home to arrest the elderly woman for assault and battery. 

Since the storm, the city has replaced public housing units with market rate apartments. Almost none of the former residents have been able to move back into the new developments.

We call for the charges against activist Sharon Jasper to be dropped and for her housing voucher to be reinstated. When community engagement is rewarded with handcuffs, no resident can feel safe to express their concerns, insights and problems without fearing retaliation.

We support Sharon Jasper and urge the Columbia Residential real estate to drop the charges and for  local elected officials to intervene on behalf of the most vulnerable members of their community!