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Look, evictions are violent affairs. When the state sends armed officers to kick residents out of their homes on behalf of private banks, things are bound to get out of hand. Dispossessed tenants have reacted with every means at their disposal: enlisting community organizers, filing lawsuits, and occasionally even barricading themselves with guns.
However, sheriff’s deputies carrying out one 2022 eviction really got stung — literally — when Massachusetts resident Rebecca Woods let loose a swarm of honey bees in order to stall the cops kicking an 80-year old man out of his home.
“Hey, hey, hey, she has a truck full of bees,” one deputy can be heard saying in recently released video of the eviction. “What?” another deputy replies, baffled. “She’s opening the bees,” another voice can be heard warning.
Beekeeping housing advocate unleashes swarm of bees on Hampden County sheriff's deputies
The estate — a sprawling, $1.9 million mansion in the wealthy and picturesque town of Longmeadow, Massachusetts — belonged to an elderly man undergoing cancer treatment, the New York Times reported.
For her part, Woods maintains that she was stalling the officers long enough for the homeowner to print off a stay of eviction letter at the local library.
A beekeeper by trade, Woods was recently sentenced to serve six months in the county jail for unleashing the insects on officers during the tense eviction.
“It really was just a sincere hope that [the home owner] would not suffer the humiliation and devastation of going through an eviction, of losing your home,” Woods’ attorney said on Sunday.
Prosecutors had initially charged Woods with seven felonies, each of which were nullified by the jury. Instead, she was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, as well as two counts of reckless assault. The beekeeper maintains that she did nothing wrong, and has filed a notice of appeal, the NYT reported.
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