Red House

The Red House eviction defense was an occupation protest at a foreclosed house on North Mississippi Avenue in the Humboldt neighborhood in the Albina district, a historically Black district of Portland, Oregon, United States. The Kinneys, a Black and Indigenous family, owned the house, often called the "Red House," for 65 years. They took out a mortgage on the house in the early 2000s, but the loan went into default in 2016. In 2018 the family lost the home in a non-judicial foreclosure proceeding, but continued to live there. William Kinney III used sovereign citizen ideas to argue that the law does not have jurisdiction over the family and their debts. In September 2020, Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputies served a court order at the home and evicted the Kinneys. Activists rose in support of the family and occupied the property and the surrounding area. In December 2020, law enforcement officers returned, removing some activists and arresting several people. Activists then barricaded the area surrounding the house. Police and demonstrators clashed as police tried to clear demonstrators from the area.