Noreen Goode says the promise of a free home pushed her to wake up at 4 a.m. on Wednesday to stand in a long line, all for an opportunity to get a Detroit home, for free, no strings attached.
Goode and nearly a thousand more just like her bucked the heat and responded to the campaign called the Detroit Free Housing program, proposing to allocate homes like this to Detroiters who need them.
7 Action News looked into the claim on Tuesday, the city of Detroit confirming to us that the program was bogus.
Still, hundreds came out and bought into claims that signing a petition for a new city government would help at least start the process.
Organizers stood by their claims, but some we spoke to were disappointed by what they called a false promise.
"It’s a bad thing to do to residents of Detroit," said Rudolph Muhammed. "Don’t you think residents have had enough? Who’s the webmaster? Who’s in charge of the website?"
As we reported on Tuesday, the permit that was denied for the event was filed under the name Ramzu Yunus.
Exactly two years ago, Yunus held a protest where again, he lured hundreds of people by claiming they would get free homes.
Just three months later, he held a rally in Highland Park, where he stated he would be taking over the city and making it a free state. That event drew a major police presence - helicopters and even the swat team.
Yunus was charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace. As for the free homes promised, they were never given out.
