Residents seen boarded up inside their homes?
Harvey leadership still investigating viral videos
In a series of videos posted Friday and Saturday by a family member of 73-year-old Rudolph Williams, the narrator can be heard explaining the Harvey man was still inside his apartment and unable to leave because a plywood plank had been installed over his door and his door handle was torn off.
The five videos have more than 10 million views on TikTok, triggered outrage online and on Monday brought Harvey’s leadership to the complex at 14437 and 1445 S. Halsted St., to speak to residents and media about what occurred and next steps.
Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark originally said because he does not get his information from social media and was not on the scene when this occurred, he could not confirm if residents were boarded up while still inside their apartments.
“We’d have to go back and check what the police saw when they got here,”
Clark said.
But after speaking to residents, he eventually said residents were boarded up inside their homes, confirmed an investigation will be undertaken and said he is looking into whether an ordinance change is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
Williams and his nephews, Danny Bennett and James Williams, said
Bennett, who lives with Rudolph, left the apartment about 4 p.m. Friday. When he returned, he saw the boards on the apartment and all the surrounding units. He called James to see if Rudolph was still in the apartment, which James confirmed.
“Where are we going to go? I won’t go into no shelter,” Bennett said after realizing the boards were
installed because they were no longer allowed to live in their unit.
Bennett said he gave the crew boarding up the apartments $30 and a case of beer to take down the planks.
“I was calm about it because I am a veteran. I have been through some stuff,” Rudolph Williams