Urban Turf Chicago links to a recent CNN Money article and contends that the Occupy movement “has come up with a creative, albeit rebellious, way to ease the foreclosure crisis…” According to Urban Turf:
In the Windy City, activists have “taken over” a number of foreclosures, including one on the South Side where CNN reports a homeless mother and child, evicted homeowner and a college student are all living.
There’s nothing new or creative about illegal squatting. What is new is the media’s apparent reluctance to mention, or ignorance of the fact that this behavior amounts to criminal trespass, and is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
720 ILCS 5, Sec. 19-4. Criminal trespass to a residence.
(a) (1) A person commits the offense of criminal trespass to a residence when, without authority, he knowingly enters or remains within any residence, including a house trailer.
There’s also nothing new about activists cynically using the naïve as cannon fodder. Did anyone at Occupy Chicago inform the homeless mother and child that they were committing a crime?