Cops who evicted family from their Houston home on national TV help raise $235,000 for them

Police who evicted a young couple and their two children from their Houston home have helped raise more than $234,000 in a bid to get the family back on their feet. 

The Harris County Constable Precinct One Foundation set up a GoFundMe page for the Rodriguez clan after CNN broadcast their eviction in a news package aired September 2.  

In the heartbreaking segment, Israel Rodriguez, 24, was seen leaving the complex where he lived with his girlfriend and their young sons, Fabian, four, and Israel Jr., one. 

‘It’s my fault, because I’m supposed to be the man of the house,’ Rodriguez emotionally told the news network as he cradled his youngest son.  

‘We ain’t got nowhere to go right now. It was a lot going on there with the corona. When it hit, I lost my job.’ 

Rodriguez received multiple warning messages from his landlord and the Harris County court, but he was unable to come up with the cash to cover his rent.   

The father-of-two showed CNN a check for $361 – all of the money he had left to his name. 

As the family did not have a car,  most of their possessions were discarded onto the street. 

‘It’s trash now,’ Rodriguez stated, before telling the officers who evicted him: ‘We ain’t got nowhere to go.’

The police took no pleasure in forcing the family from their home, with Constable Alan Rosen telling CNN: ‘We’re human beings. It’s horrible. It’s horrible to have to evict somebody out of a home. This is their shelter. This is where their family life is.’

Rosen quickly got to work starting the fundraiser for the family, buoyed by publicity from the CNN segment. 

Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson even helped bring attention to the clan’s plight, posting about them to his 1.3 million Twitter followers. 

The Constable’s GoFundMe page was quickly inundated with donations, much to the delight of locals in the community.   

‘We care. We are compassionate. We are abiding by the guidelines,’ Rosen wrote on the page. 

‘It breaks our hearts to evict people. We hope the generosity demonstrated following this single story will begin a movement where we work together as a society that starts a discussion about poverty, prioritizes kindness and encourages philanthropy.’

As of Wednesday afternoon, $234,446 has been raised for the family. 

A second GoFundMe page – set up by a New York based teacher who saw the story on CNN – has raised $70,050. 

Rodriguez and Rosen gave a joint press conference late last week, during which they thanked people across the country for their generous donations. 

‘It’s the best thing that could ever happen to me,’ Rodriguez emotionally declared.  

Police orders to forcibly remove Rodriguez from his home came just hours before the Trump Administration issued an executive order issuing a temporary halt in residential evictions. 

The order gives the CDC authority to block landlords from evicting almost all tenants for failure to pay rent through the end of 2020.