Above photo: Cheri Honkala is arrested at HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C. Jason Bosch.
On June 14, the DC Court of Appeals will hear arguments around internationally-recognized housing advocate Cheri Honkala’s appeal of a misdemeanor conviction for seeking an audience in 2018 with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Ben Carson. The case could set an important precedent on the First Amendment right of the people to petition their government for assistance without fear of punishment for doing so, a right that extends back to the 1215 Magna Carta. Watch the hearing live on the court’s YouTube channel: bit.ly/cheritrial.
For decades, Cheri Honkala has been a fearless defender of people’s right to have housing. Every day, Honkala assists families in need, sometimes giving them shelter in her own home and sometimes helping them move into vacant HUD houses. She is disgusted by the fact that there are currently more than ten million vacant houses in the United States, enough to provide housing for the half a million people who need it. In some cities, such as Detroit, MI or Syracuse, NY, there are more than 100 empty houses for each person who does not have a house. Vacant HUD homes have the utilities running to protect them from deteriorating, but why aren’t these homes being used to protect the lives of people who have nowhere to live?
It is HUD’s own policies that have failed to stop the growing housing crisis in the United States. This is what Cheri Honkala and other advocates wanted to explain to HUD officials in 2018. They wanted to bring the reality of what families without housing experience daily and why HUD policies create obstacles that keep them on the streets, or shuffling from couch to couch.
In June 2018, Cheri Honkala led more than 100 people in the March for Our Lives from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s Poor People’s March. The march called attention to the government’s disastrous response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and its horrific policies that strip people of housing and the basic necessities of life.
Honkala and a group of marchers entered the HUD building seeking a meeting with HUD Secretary Ben Carson to discuss HUD policies. It is common practice for people to show up, without an appointment, and speak to HUD officials (as was admitted in the case). Although a high-ranking HUD official told Honkala that he would meet with her, she was soon arrested by HUD security. She was later charged and convicted of unlawful entry (similar to trespassing), a misdemeanor.
On that day in June, Honkala was exercising her 1st Amendment right to bring complaints to a government agency and seek assistance for those in need. Instead of welcoming her and listening, the government responded with repression. Honkala had to spend much time and resources going to court that could have been used to help families in need.
Some people may have accepted the misdemeanor conviction and moved on, but that did not sit well with human rights defender Cheri Honkala. She viewed her struggle in the bigger picture of the erosion of 1st Amendment rights in the United States, where states are passing legislation to restrict how people express their rights and label them as terrorists for demanding justice. Our 1st Amendment rights must be protected, especially in a time when the government has failed to address many crises such as lack of health care, exploitation of workers, crushing student debt, poisoning of communities and more. Honkala does not want her case to be one more step towards losing the right to peacefully fight back.
We can’t let Cheri Honkala wage this struggle alone. Join the Poor People’s Army in supporting her and raising awareness of the assaults on our rights to live in dignity. Share this message. Wbit.ly/cheritrial. You can join the Poor People’s Army by signing up for more information at bit.ly/PPAregister, or contact us 215-869-4753 PPEHRCorg@gmail.com.