Business Owner Got Evicted for Participating in Black Lives Matter Protests
Written by SOURCE on June 8, 2020
A Des Moines, Iowa Black business owner is being evicted from his storefront for participating in a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest.
Jeremiah Johnson owns a fashion/retail store in the city called Stylent Brands. He used to rent an office space in the city, but his landlord saw Johnson and his associates protesting while watching the news. The landlord assumed that Johnson and his friends were looting and/or conducting “illegal activity” and decided to terminate their lease.
In footage uploaded to Twitter and obtained by TMZ, Johnson tries to explain to his landlord that there were two groups of protesters. He says that he and his friends were part of the peaceful protesters who were distancing themselves from the rioters. But the storefront owner was not convinced. He went as far as to send Johnson an email from his lawyer claiming that he and the other protesters were seeking rights that they haven’t “earned.”
Johnson isn’t giving up. The Liberian born businessman tells TMZ that he plans to take his landlord to court. When he gets in front of the judge he will detail how the move is racial discrimination, a violation of the First Amendment, and breaches the lease he signed with the owner. But currently, he has no office space and can’t hold his inventory or ship his product.
