FLDS families evicted from Colorado City neighborhood

for nearly 100 years it has been their home it has been their headquarters and a safe haven yeah but now many FLDS families being evicted from Colorado City Arizona and Hildale Utah three TVs my clock is here in the studio with us tonight and commute covering this community now for decades yeah and some are saying these evictions are a form of genocide against the FLDS people while others believe it is a self-inflicted wound brought on by following Warren Jeffs whatever the case once again as we found out during a recent trip it's the women and children who are suffering this is genocide absolutely genocide they're still in these houses we feel like everything's being taken away from us we have single mothers with no money sent out on the street literally becoming homeless so genocide belongs to Warren Jeffs he has created a mass genocide in this community by destroying families in a community today known as much for turmoil as it is its pastoral Prairie dresses and practice of polygamy the winds have changed now blowing in a place called Short Creek like never before the twin border towns of Colorado City Arizona and Hildale Utah where today conditions traumatic and turbulent for many of the communities FLDS faithful it's a mother and nine children she's trying to find a place that's gonna fit how many places are there they can fit a mother and nine children on this recent blustery day a dramatic scene that has played out here before a Mojave County constable a locksmith and a representative of the trust that controls most of the community's land carrying out court-ordered evictions when they started doing these evictions they were doing on a on a case-by-case basis once in a while but now they're doing them every day 30 evictions a month and more and I think that's wrong the people being evicted for the most part women and children all faithful followers of Warren Jeffs the FLDS prophet now locked up for life in a Texas prison for sexually assaulting two of his young underaged plural Brides I loved Warren Jeffs I loved him as my prophet I shut myself off to that negative about him you don't believe it's true I know it's not true and in keeping with long-standing FLDS tradition Jeffs has instructed his followers not to deal with the court-ordered evictions or the controlling Land Trust the uep because under court order that trust now includes people who have either left or been kicked out of the FLDS Church people known as apostates I would rather go through an outsider like you than to take one dime personally from an apostate Norma Barlow and her children following as the eviction team made its rounds and at this home the FLDS mom and her nine children told it was time to get out of the hub that they'd moved into only a week earlier after being evicted from another home she got evicted from one place a couple of weeks ago and one week to go how she ended up in this home and she had not had come here in the first place she didn't have anywhere to go so she came here out of desperation out of desperation but representatives of the uep Trust say no one has to be evicted if only the FLDS families would sign what's called an occupancy agreement and pay a hundred dollar monthly fee that can be forgiven in cases of hardship the taxes are now coming up due again for three and four years in the rears and they're just not participating they choose not to they think they're above the law they think Warren is the law indeed critics of Jeffs say if there is a quote genocide it has been committed by the Prophet against his own people with Jeff's long-standing history of condemning and exiling countless men from the community over the years breaking apart and reassigning hundreds of families today leaving many homes now packed with struggling women and children 378 families have been destroyed by this man taken apart by taken apart and that's the tally that we know of there's probably more it's traumatic for children it's it's traumatic for the mothers Christine Cadis and her husband Tolga recently moved to Colorado City and have become vocal advocates for the FLDS evictees some wonderful volunteers have made these quilts sent pillows and and care packages and it's I mean amazing people from around the country and as the eviction team changes the locks in the FLDS mom and her nine children scurry to get their belongings out of the hub some of the FLDS girls gathered the properties weathered wooden fence leaving behind an American flag blowing in the wind where are the folks who were leaving where are they going over the nation wherever they can go yeah many of the FLDS are scattering around Utah in Arizona and throughout the country many of the that the FLDS have been evicted from now being occupied by those people known as apostates as the non FLDS population continues to grow in the direction of the community continues to change I mean it's just an incredible story I know you've been covering this for 40 years Michael you want to I mean is this you know just the dismantling of the FLDS community in that in those two cities they've certainly lost their power their sort of ironclad power got a real diversity and relatively speaking people are not FLDS moving in there they're gonna start voting new people in because of a discrimination lawsuit here in in Phoenix there are now monitors like we had in Joe Arpaio's office regulating the cops of their the utilities the government the tap that that horse has left the bar that the town is changing but the FLDS community bottom line continues to be very insular a lot of suffering inside and I think you know we went up there recently I've been going up there for nearly 40 years and we started we started this to address the suffering and abuse the women and children face going up there you know a couple of days ago I realized that after 40 years I don't know how much change has happened because there's still a lot of suffering some good groups are reaching out to help these displaced FLDS families but still the women and children inside the FLDS community seem to be the pawns always in this and they are the ones who suffer and you know those who've been excommunicated from the FLDS Church they've decided to stay there inland many of them any and that's the sea change you're getting people have been kicked out and left on their own accord they've been granted access to these homes where the FLDS are being evicted because their stake holders in this trust they're worked as children but that changing demographic means the FLDS are never going to have the kind of control they've had in the past but people ask me you know they the FLDS or the fundamentalist have been in that part of the world for a hundred years and I say they'll be there a hundred years from my quad Casey is always right a pleasure to have your knowledge and just appreciate it and be able to chat about it with nobody no other reporter has it's an issue that's important in this state I think women and children suffering everyone the bottom line thank you very much Mike thanks

Channel: azfamily powered by 3TV & CBS5AZ

Views: 411,525

Rating: 4.5249448 out of 5

Keywords: KTVK

Id: B2mQE45laFc

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 02 2017