In Santa Cruz, homeless people who had lived on private property with the permission of the owner reported their encampments and structures were destroyed and their property was stolen by sheriff’s deputies and SCPD marauders in several seize-and-spoil operations in the last few weeks. A marijuana crop was confiscated (or robbed, as homeless people saw it) even though they claimed at least ten of them had medical marijuana cards.
This happened both near highway 17 and another encampment some distance away. I’ll be playing those reports Thursday September 8th on the stream of Free Radio during my show 6-8 PM at http://tunein.com/radio/FRSC-
HUFF will meet tomorrow at 10 AM at 703 Pacific to discuss this issue further.
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2013 13:35:26 -0700
Subject: [FresnoHomelessAdvocates] Dispatch from the War Zone – Week Two
PO Box 5077 Fresno Ca 93755 (559) 978-4502 (cell)
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Central Valley | Health, Housing, and Public Services
Tuesday Sep 3rd, 2013 1:28 PM
The City of Fresno is in their second week of destroying homeless encampments in the downtown area. The photos of the demolition and people trying to escape (below) are from the encampment that is located between E street and highway 99 with California Ave and San Benito on either end of the encampment. These photos were taken on Tuesday, September 3, 2013.
It was the Poverello House, which is a social service organization that provides meals for the homeless, that pushed the city to destroy the homeless encampments. They argued that the encampments, with their run down appearance and alleged crime was preventing clients from entering their facility.
The demolition today followed a pattern that played out last week near the Poverello House. After the city’s attorney and sanitation workers walk through the encampment (with multiple video recorders capturing every conversation), they offer the residents bags to put their property in. If they have a lot of property, the city brings in a large 8 x 8 x 20 foot container. While property is being stored, the bulldozers start clearing out unwanted property and trash that has been left behind. Soon, the bulldozers are tearing into the shelters as many of the homeless are still pushing shopping carts away. Eventually every last shelter will be destroyed, property will be stored for 90 days, and the homeless will have no place safe to sleep tonight.
