bees assault charges eviction Rebecca Woods Massachusetts eviction beekeeper sentenced elderly eviction cancer patient eviction

Evictions are inherently violent acts. When law enforcement forcibly removes residents from their homes at the behest of private financial institutions, tensions often escalate. Dispossessed tenants have responded in various ways—mobilizing community support, pursuing legal action, or even barricading themselves with firearms.

In one 2022 eviction, however, sheriff’s deputies faced an unexpected obstacle: a swarm of honey bees unleashed by Massachusetts resident Rebecca Woods to delay the removal of an 80-year-old man from his home.

Audio from the incident, recently released, captures the deputies’ confusion:

“Hey, hey, hey, she has a truck full of bees.”
“What?”
“She’s opening the bees,” another voice warns.

The targeted property—a $1.9 million mansion in Longmeadow, Massachusetts—belonged to an elderly man undergoing cancer treatment, according to the New York Times.

Woods, a professional beekeeper, claimed she acted to buy time for the homeowner to print a stay of eviction letter at a local library. Her attorney stated:

“It really was just a sincere hope that [the homeowner] would not suffer the humiliation and devastation of going through an eviction, of losing your home.”

Prosecutors initially filed seven felony charges, but the jury dismissed all of them. Woods was instead convicted on four misdemeanor counts of assault and battery, as well as two counts of reckless assault. She maintains her innocence and has filed a notice of appeal, the NYT reported.

Source: Futurism
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