Once we fully understood what we—and our tenants—were facing, we expected a swift response, with the city offering meaningful resources and police protection—perhaps even from the National Guard—to help us regain control of our properties. That never happened. Instead, we were left helpless, watching as violence, bullets, and destruction overtook our buildings. Many of our legitimate tenants fled out of fear.
Despite the obvious crisis, several city officials refused to acknowledge the reality. Instead, they blamed us, citing “code violations” as the reason for shutting down our property—violations we couldn’t resolve for tenants who weren’t even ours.
