Feature: The Fall of Fort Hernandez: Occupy Van Nuys

 (This story was created in January and never published due to lack of verifiable sources. All the information was gathered directly from the Hernandez brothers and is alleged, until proven true.)

Photo from Occupy Van Nuys Twitter Page

 Javier Hernandez and his brother Antonio Hernandez of the Occupy Van Nuys camp dubbed "Fort Hernandez" were arrested for "verbally assaulting" an officer in front of an O'Reilly Auto Parts in Van Nuys earlier this year.

The Hernandez brothers have been trying to piece back together their lives since their family home was foreclosed on by Bank of America.

Javier and his mother Lupe

On Jan 17, they went to downtown L.A. in the afternoon to collect some of the items from LAPD property lockers. The police had taken artwork, furniture, pictures from their home when they were forcibly evicted in the early hours of December 27. Javier Hernandez explains, "They gave me back pictures of my nieces, but kept all my other property. All my other stuff."

Around 4:00 p.m. , the brothers returned to Van Nuys and pulled into O'Reily Auto Parts to shop for replacement bulbs. As they were working, Javier Hernandez caught sight of a police car pulling into the lot. Javier said, "The officers didn't say anything to me, and we were just working on a taillight on our car, minding our own business."

According to Javier Hernandez, Antonio had noticed the bulbs were the wrong size, so they went back into the store to exchange them.  They returned to the vehicle to put the tail light in and an Officer Bohm came up to them said, "Hows your family?" Javier Hernandez ignored the handshake and responded by saying, "Can you please leave us alone and go away." Javier said he had never seen this officer before.

Officer Bohm allegedly said, "I'm just trying to be a nice guy. I am the officer that complimented your mural. I really liked the artwork."

Día 101! La Fuerza Sigue!

Javier recalls the moment but not the officer from a video on the Fort Hernandez YouTube page. Fort Hernandez had a mural across a barricade in front of the house owned by the Hernandez family.  Javier said, "The officer began to hit with a bunch of questions, "Do you buy parts for your car? You do it by yourself? What parts are you buying for you car?" The Hernandez brothers both tried to ignore them, retreating back into O' Reilly Auto Parts after the officers wouldn't stop pressing them. Javier recalls, "They were looking at us by the door, as we entered again.Then one officer stood by the counter and the other officer was by one of the aisles." Antonio pulled out his cellphone and started recording and taking pictures as the incident unfolded.

Javier said, "Why are you here? Stop harassing us! What are you doing here? Why are you asking about my family? Leave us alone!" The police retorted with, "What is you problem?" They started closing in on Antonio, who tossed his phone to Javier.

Javier explains, "They didn't decide to arrest me till we started recording them on the phone."

The officers arrested both of them, allegedly saying that they made a "criminal threat" to the police. "You are arrested for challenging officers to a fight." Javier handed the phone to the woman working at the counter and asked her to hang onto it.

While the Hernandez brothers waited to be taken to the police department in separate cars, Javier was watching the Watch Commander talk to the arresting officers from the squad car. He saw the watch commander say, "So, what are you guys doing here? Why were you messing with these guys?"

The arrested officers were apparently nervous and talking over each other. The Watch Commander got on his walkie talkie and said, "It's my impression that they shouldn't have messed with the Hernandez brothers."

    When they arrived at Van Nuys Police Station, the tower commander asks them, "What were you doing at McDonalds?" Antonio explained that they weren't at McDonalds and he wasn't going to speak without his lawyer, Rhonda Hoggs. The Tower Commander appeared confused, but knowing they weren't talking.

They were handcuffed in the holding area from around 4:30 P.M. until 2:00 a.m. the following day.  Javier has been in holding before, and normally it takes around 3-45 minutes to be processed. He recalls several other people in holding being processed ahead of them, even though these people arrived after them. The handcuffs caused markings and scrapes to appear around his wrists during the 10 and a half hour wait in holding.

"We saw 15 to 20 people get processed,  and my Brother Tonio missed a dinner at a YMCA fundraiser."  Antonio and his girlfriend are volunteers at a local YMCA. She began calling his confiscated cellphone to find out where he was. "We try to do good for the community, they [LAPD] don't want community, we just want to help people." says Javier.

The family became worried when they received no response and started calling nearby hospitals, friends, and finally Van Nuys Police. The police department said they weren't there, but this was because they weren't booked and registered in the system yet. Eventually the family came in and waited, knowing they were there.

Riot cops take down Fort Hernandez

  At some point later in the evening, an officer appeared with Antonio's cellphone. He told Javier, they were receiving a ton of calls and text messages and Javier could unlock the phone and check them because he was feeling "nice." Javier said, "It isn't my phone it's Tonios." Antonio didn't unlock the phone, assuming that they were asking so they could delete the footage and pictures taken during the incident. The police kept the phone. They asked the officer when they would be processed and the investigative officer said, "I'm asking the questions and then you get your phone call."

   The family was waiting in the lobby from 11:00 p.m. till 2:00 a.m. when finally an officer said, "We just saw them come in 30 minutes ago." Javier tells the Weekly, "We were there since 4:00 p.m., they were lying. We get painted as low life, low income criminals. This happens all the time to us. I'm not a terrible person, my whole family and neighbors are great. The police, they make themselves look so bad, but they don't care."

  Five years ago, Bank of America adjusted the Hernandez' monthly payment rate from $3,900 to $4,500.  According to the Bank of America refused to work with the Hernandez family on any other type of payment or loan options. Over five years, the Hernandez family applied for four modifications and was denied every time. The Hernandez family claim to have tried to pay late at the banks refusal of all attempts to hang onto their property, and finally auctioned the house.

The Hernandez family erected Fort Hernandez, invited homeless Occupy L.A. protesters into their home to live with them after the camp and City Hall was descended upon by LAPD. The occupiers erected a fort wall around the house. Underground street artist, Brother Ali, painted a mural on the wall of a bank with mechanical spider legs. The mural took over 30 hours to complete.  

Fort Hernandez fell to eviction, two days after Christmas, and all the tenants were forced onto the streets by a ton of police officers.

 "A couple weeks ago, the district attorney calls and wants to get a restraining order to stay off our old block.We were in court recently for citations for the wall around Fort Hernandez. I'm facing a $200 ticket for all the trash left in Fort Hernandez."

Part of the Hernandez family sitting outside the barricade.

 Javier is sad about being restrained from his childhood home, but says that the community had been very supportive.  He believes the police are following him often but isn't intimidated or discouraged.

"We are public enemy, number 1. They have to get us for something, they see us as bad people."

In an effort to contribute to the neighborhood community, the Hernandez Family in conjunction with Occupy Van Nuys holds occasional "Feed the People" potlucks in Sun Valley Park. They invite anyone to come and enjoy free hot dogs and hamburgers and encourage friends and families from anywhere to bring something and enjoy a day in the park as a community.

"We are all good people. It's terrible we grow up in a society that thinks that treating low income families like this is right, but it isn't--its wrong. We are here to show the world what a good person is."