Activist promising Detroiters free property jailed after shootout at squatter home

Ramzu Yunus (Photo: Facebook)

A Black nationalist who's been urging Detroiters to "claim" publicly owned houses for themselves says he was held in jail for two days last week following a shooting at a squatter home on the city's west side.

Ramzu Yunus says he exchanged gunfire with a man who showed up banging on the door of a home he uses as an office on Forrer Street, near Fenkell and Greenfield, on Sept. 1. Police were summoned, but Yunus refused to immediately exit the home and was treated as a barricaded gunman. No one was injured.

The 45-year-old has captured headlines in recent weeks for telling Black Detroiters they're entitled to the city's vacant houses. Yunus calls it activism; the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which owns many of the properties, calls it a misinformation campaign causing significant confusion.

The home where the shooting occurred was until June owned by Michigan River Properties, LLC, a company affiliated with Florida-based investment firm Tyto Holdings, Tyto's John Palmer said Thursday. Palmer says the firm sold the house to Ferndale-based RPJ Real Estate, LLC, and that it was previously occupied by a squatter who he'd had difficulty removing due to pandemic-related eviction moratoriums.

Yunus said a couple had been living in the home without issue for at least two years when the unknown man came knocking last Wednesday.

"They're trying to set an example," Yunus said. "They came because of recent media attention. They’re making sure they try to target the properties associated with us."

In recent weeks, Yunus has staged demonstrations in front of city hall where he issues notices from his "Detroit Free Housing Authority" that purport to designate a particular property to a particular person. He claims there are more than 1,000 people living in homes they did not buy in Detroit and Highland Park as a result of his work.

A flyer for an action promoted by Yunus

Though he has previously said the campaign is limited to publicly owned property, deed records show the house where the shooting occurred has changed hands between a handful of banks and LLCs over the past five years.

Detroit police Cpl. Dan Donakowski confirmed gunfire was exchanged at the home last week, but did not say whether the other shooter was considered a suspect. He said Yunus was released pending further investigation and declined to provide further details.

Yunus said the other shooter was not arrested. He and the couple, meanwhile, have left the house. Police, he says, forced out the occupants, and it was filled with pit bulls by the time he got out of jail.