Woodward's Squat
The 'Woodsquat' was an autonomous direct action which occurred in the Fall of 2002 and lasted nearly 3 months. It began on September 14, 2002, when radicals and homeless people occupied the old Woodward's department store in the Downtown Eastside. Prominent among their demands was for the building to be converted to social housing (it was 'redeveloped' and opened in 2010 with little social housing and lots of yuppie condos and corporate stores). The Woodsquat was one of the first public actions to also attack the (then proposed) 2010 Winter Games. Vancouver police eventually raided the squat with a large number of riot cops, who brutally arrested those who remained inside.
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