×
Newsmax TV & Webwww.newsmax.comFREE - In Google Play
VIEW
×
Newsmax TV & Webwww.newsmax.comFREE - On the App Store
VIEW
Skip to main content
Tags: detroit | water | shut | off | arrests | protest

Detroit Water Shut Off Arrests Follow Protest by Thousand-Plus

By    |   Monday, 21 July 2014 10:20 AM EDT

Detroit's effort to shut off delinquent water customers led to additional arrests as more than 1,000 protesters rallied against Michigan's largest city ending service to thousands who have unpaid bills, which include nearly half the troubled city's customers.

The plan to shut off water to get delinquent customers to pay their bills, and the protests that followed, brought new national attention Detroit, which is going through the country's largest municipal bankruptcy ever, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Detroit police arrested protesters Friday who blocked trucks leaving the water department's dispatch center to disconnect additional residences. Protesters complain that shutting off water to so many creates a public health and human rights issues.

Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll

"This is a humanitarian crisis in the making," Michelle Mahon, 42, of Cleveland, told the Detroit Free Press. Mahon told the newspaper she is a field organizer for the National Nurses United union. "As nurses, it's our duty to act when we see a community in danger."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Detroit has 175,000 active residential water accounts, including about 80,000 past-due customers owing $43 million, averaging $540. Some 15,000 accounts have been shutoffs because of nonpayment.

The city's emergency manager Kevyn Orr, appointed to run in the city by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, told the Journal that the shutoff plan was an effort to run the city in a more responsible manner than the past.

Detroit water department spokesman Gregory Eno said that despite the protest, the public is getting the message and those signing up for water-bill payment plans have increased from 11,000 to 17,000. Eno added that the city also created a new assistance program for poor customers.

"There is no rethinking of the strategy," Eno told the Journal. "It's working."

Actor Mark Ruffalo, who appeared at the liberal leaning Netroots Nation event in Detroit on Friday, appeared with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren to support the protesters, according to the Huffington Post.

"What's happening in Detroit is a model for what can be happening to the nation," Ruffalo told the protesters. "Instead of a nation for the .01 percent, it's a nation for all of us. Resistance and resilience. Water is a right."

Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.

Related Stories:

© 2023 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


TheWire
Detroit's effort to shut off delinquent water customers led to additional arrests as more than 1,000 protesters rallied against Michigan's largest city ending service to thousands who have unpaid bills, which include nearly half the troubled city's customers.
detroit, water, shut, off, arrests, protest
411
2014-20-21
Monday, 21 July 2014 10:20 AM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
TOP

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Download the NewsmaxTV App
Get the NewsmaxTV App for iOS Get the NewsmaxTV App for Android Scan QR code to get the NewsmaxTV App
NEWSMAX.COM
America's News Page
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved