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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCan the City of Fresno be prevented from bulldozing downtown homeless encampments, on 8/26 ?
Thursday, August 15 at 7 p.m.
Can the City of Fresno be prevented from bulldozing downtown homeless encampments,
which are scheduled to begin on August 26?
If so, how can these demolitions be stopped? Are safe and legal homeless encampments an option?
Are you able to help document (with a camera) the demolitions, if they take place?
Join homeless advocates and community members as we discuss a response to these ongoing attacks against the homeless.
This meeting will take place at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) office at 1295 Wishon Suite D.
(That's across the street from Cafe Corazon in the Tower District).
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Mnemosyne
(21,363 posts)
Half-Century Man
(5,279 posts)...On July 28, 1932 the last charge of the US Calvary on horse back in North America ever occurred against the homeless veteran's encampment in (called the Bonus Army) Washington DC during the Great Depression. Mounted cavalry supported by six tanks were dispatched with Chief of Staff General Douglas MacArthur in command. Major Dwight D. Eisenhower served as his liaison with Washington police and Major George Patton led the cavalry.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)It is quite amazing. I think I read about it in Howard Zinn's a People's History.
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)We sleep...
ridhithomas
(12 posts)They don't have anywhere else to go.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)Mike, the editor/publisher of the Fresno Community Alliance newspaper has been reporting on this since 2002..
I find it incredible, I lived all but my last 12 years in Fresno.
Once the right wing Christian right took over Fresno for the last 25 years it declined to this.
the Mayors, Chief of Police, Sheriff and several City Council members are Born Again Christians... the spouted more and more Christian right BS and the worse the treated the poor, homeless, mentally ill, and unemployed.
the progressive paper. the Community Alliance has been reporting and chronicling the truth
http://fresnoalliance.com/wordpress/?p=1313
the City and the Fresno Bee will say one thing... like the Homeless are being helped.. but the truth is very different.
It is average people that have collected toilet paper to put in the porta potties that people donate money to so the homeless at least have a place to go to the bathroom.
from a previous article
http://fresnoalliance.com/wordpress/?p=5568
The Community Alliance has taken the lead in providing portable toilets to three homeless encampments in downtown Fresno, which improves their lives giving them some privacy and dignity. It also keeps the community cleaner and prevents health problems associated with sanitation problems. If you would like to help with this project, send a contribution or simply drop off a box of toilet paper at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence (1584 N. Van Ness Ave., Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–3 p.m.). We guarantee you that 100% of your contribution will benefit the homeless.
We put up portable toilets at the encampments because the City of Fresno refused to provide this basic service for our homeless brothers and sisters. Somehow, they seemed to think that bulldozing homeless people’s shelters and chasing them from one vacant lot to another made more sense. The city spent more than $200,000 destroying homeless people’s property (last October and November) and making their lives more miserable, while at the same time claiming they had no money to open warming or cooling centers. In July, we expect the city to bulldoze homeless encampments in the vicinity of the Monterey Bridge (San Benito and Broadway), including Pastor Ray Polk’s homeless ministry. Polk is praying for a miracle.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)the State of CA or the Feds not stopping the abuse, permanently.
In 2006; Homeless residents of Fresno won a victory today in Federal court. A temporary restraining order was issued that stops the City of Fresno from taking and destroying homeless peoples property. Under this ruling, the city is prevented from using their bulldozers to destroy encampments, like the one below (this photo was taken in May 2006)
The City of Fresno was issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) today that will stop them from seizing and destroying poor peoples property. The practice of attacking homeless encampments, like the one in the photo above, was challenged in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, October 17. (2006)
See: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/17/18321050.php for background on the lawsuit. The hearing today was before judge Oliver W. Wanger in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California.
Within a week the Cops and Caltrans were back harassing the homeless:
On Sunday morning, as many of this community’s homeless and their advocates were waking up from a camp out at Fresno City Hall,
(see: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/22/18322289.php ) the Fresno Police Department (FPD) was busy hassling the homeless in another part of downtown. Three or four patrol cars pulled onto Caltrans land adjacent to highway 99 near Ventura and woke up the sleeping residents. FPD officer Michael G. Harris, after waking everyone up, said “how soon can you get up and out of here?” He claimed unidentified neighbors had complained and Caltrans would be out the next day, presumably to remove them.
and in the next month, Nov 2006... the Bulldozers came in and tore down the tents.. they not only tear down the tent,, the put them in the garbage trucks with all the possession inside... id's, paperwork, bibles, in one case the urn and ashes of a grandson, puppies (yes live puppies), clothes, medicine, glasses. etc.
On Wednesday, November 1 two homeless men were sleeping in their shelter in downtown Fresno when the bulldozer came. Charles, who has asthma, said “I woke us and started coughing from all of the dust.” Charles and his friend Steve knew something was wrong when they looked out and saw a bulldozer in front of them.
Charles said “I asked the guy (the machine operator) to stop. He told me he was doing this for his boss. . . so, I asked him who his boss was. He said he didn’t know, but that I would have to leave right away so he could do his job.” Charles and Steve said they received no warning that they were about to be forced out of their shelter and have all of their possessions destroyed. Steve said he had a family trunk in the shelter that contained irreplaceable items. The shelter and their possessions were put in a dumpster and large asphalt rocks were placed on top.
The experience Charles and Steve had is similar to what has happened to hundreds of other homeless people in Fresno. The only difference is - about two weeks ago a Federal Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop the City of Fresno from taking and destroying homeless peoples property. See: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/10/17/18321050.php .
** and the abuse continued..
the end of Nov 2006.. the Homeless and their advocates went back to court...
"The courtroom, filled with homeless and their allies, heard three witnesses on Tuesday. The first witness was Liza Apper, who works with the Saint Benedict Catholic Worker. Apper has been a homeless advocate for many years and has put herself in front of bulldozers to protect homeless peoples property. snip
Apper said that Fresno was exceptionally hostile to homeless people and on a national scale is probably one of the most unfriendly cities. City of Fresno attorney James Betts objected repeatedly and attempted to limit Apper’s testimony. Apper said Fresno was in the top ten of US cities who are hostile to the homeless. She estimated there were 4 - 8,000 homeless on the streets of Fresno and that there are very few shelters where a homeless person can find a bed. Apper said the Fresno Rescue Mission (for men only) has between 120 - 150 beds, the Poverello House has 22 tool sheds that sleep two people each, and that the Naomi House (for women only) has 24 beds. "
"Rev. Floyd Harris was the next witness. Rev. Harris had participated in a clean up of the homeless encampment over the summer. See: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/05/18294991.php . He described how it was possible to clean up the homeless encampment without destroying property. Rev. Harris said he went to the encampment the day before the clean up to talk with the residents. The homeless agreed to help and when Harris brought a youth group they all worked together on the clean up. Harris disputed Jim Connell’s description of the encampments as being covered with human feces and having needles and syringes all over the ground. Harris said “I’ve seen more needles north of Shields avenue than south of Shields.” Harris said he and his co-workers did not have to wear bio-hazzard suits to conduct the clean up. Harris concluded, “I wanted to show the youth group that came out that day not to be afraid of the homeless. We are all one community.”
Liza Apper returned to the stand and described the June 22 attack on the homeless encampment. Photos were shown of her struggling with officer Rey Wallace over the possession of a shopping cart. On that day, the police and sanitation had concluded their clean up on the west side of E street (south of Ventura) and the homeless had removed what they could and put it on the East side of E street. In a surprise move, the police directed city sanitation workers to start throwing entire tents and shopping carts into the garbage truck and crushing them. What was being destroyed was obviously the property that the homeless people sought to save from destruction. For more details about this incident, see: http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/06/22/18281976.php .
****
by the next week in Nov 2006 the Federal judge issues preliminary injunction barring the City of Fresno from destroying homeless people's property
From the ACLU of Northern California website
Federal Judge Rules in Favor of Homeless Residents in Fresno
Preliminary Injunction will be Issued Barring City from Destroying the Property of Homeless Residents
For Immediate Release: November 22, 2006
FRESNO -A federal judge announced today his intention to issue a preliminary injunction stopping the City of Fresno from unlawfully destroying the personal property of thousands of homeless residents. The lawsuit, Kincaid v. City of Fresno, was filed in October and claims that the City has been violating the constitutional rights of homeless people by seizing and immediately destroying their personal property. Last month, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting this practice. Today’s ruling will remain in effect until the case goes to trial or is settled.
The City has carried out numerous raids of areas where homeless people live, destroying their personal belongings, according to the complaint filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, the ACLU of Northern California and the law firm of Heller Ehrman, LLP. The judge found that in these raids city workers unlawfully destroy clothing, medication, tents and blankets, as well as irreplaceable personal possessions such as family photographs, personal records and documents. The raids are carried out by Fresno's Police and Sanitation workers, who use bulldozers and garbage trucks to seize tents and shopping carts full of personal belongings, usually crushing them on the spot, often with the homeless owners watching and protesting.
A report on four days of hearings that resulted in upholding the constitutional rights of homeless people in Fresno.
City of Fresno Ordered to Uphold the U.S. Constitution
By Mike Rhodes
The City of Fresno was ordered on Wednesday, November 22 to stop taking and immediately destroying homeless people’s property. United States District Judge Oliver Wanger, citing the 4th, 5th, and 14th amendment to the constitution issued a preliminary injunction against the city. Wanger said “people can not be punished because of their circumstances. They can’t be deprived of their constitutional rights.”
Throughout the hearing, the policy of the City of Fresno was described by police officers, city workers, and the city manager. They said it was their policy to notify residents of homeless encampments that a “clean up” was going to take place. They would notify the residents of the encampment both in writing and orally. The position of the city was that if they notified homeless encampment residents of the date and time of the clean up, they could then come in with bulldozers and a garbage truck, declare everything in the area that remained as trash, and destroy it. City workers claimed that they would never destroy property if it was in someone’s possession. In the last day of the hearing, it was revealed that this policy was the creation of Fresno police officer Rey Wallace. He described the policy as an “out of the box” creative solution to the problem created by homelessness in this community.
Homeless people, in their testimony before the court (see below), said they had not received notice of impending police sweeps and that their possessions are not trash. They described losing medicine, clothing, and other irreplaceable items. One person had an urn, with her granddaughter’s ashes inside, destroyed by a police raid. This happened as the person begged city workers not to destroy her property.
*********************
By July 2007.. the City of Fresno was in full force harassing, citing, jailing and destroying the property of the Homeless
City of Fresno Evicts Homeless
Many forced into 110 degree heat with nowhere to go
By Mike Rhodes
The homeless in downtown Fresno once again find themselves under attack, this time being forced from shady shelters out into the blazing sun. This week the eviction is taking place just south of Ventura on Santa Fe in downtown Fresno. Lupe Garcia moved to this shady quiet street about 2 months ago after being forced to move from another encampment, about 200 yards away. She told me that in one month, she was forced to move four times. A business owner in the area told me he was asked by the police to press trespassing charges against homeless people who lived near his store.
Garcia does not know where she is going to go next but says that city workers told her about a lot that the city is buying where she can stay. The lot these workers told her about is at Railroad and Cherry avenue, about a mile southwest from where she is now. That property has not yet been purchased by the city and there is significant opposition from nearby business owners. Some homeless people are calling it a concentration camp and vow not to be forced to live there.
This eviction comes about two weeks after an ordinance was introduced to the City Council that would make camping on city property a crime.
*********************
more abuse of the homeless.. solutions of putting the people in outdoor sheds with no air conditioning or heat.. Fresno gets over 100 in the summer for many days. Or toilets, running water, etc.
then the Mayor is found Guilty by the Court.
"Fresno mayor Alan Autry, responding to a request from Judge Oliver Wanger to explain a statement attacking the court and homeless peoples legal counsel, said “I felt as if the homeless and the people of Fresno had a gun to their head.” Autry was talking about the pressure he felt to settle a lawsuit, brought to Federal Court, to stop the City of Fresno from taking and immediately destroying homeless peoples property. "
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/10/18505754.php
(interesting article)... Alan Autry is the actor that played Bubba in the TV show "Heat of the Night" he also sang on religious shows in his spare time.
***
I could go on and on but I think you get the picture.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)http://www.helpfresnoshomeless.org/
Evictions!
In late July, City officials ordered employees of the City's Solid Waste Division Department to post notices in three Homeless Encampments in the downtown Fresno area. The notices (See an actual notice here) suggested that all occupants were trespassers and warned them of the date and time the City would be there to remove them and their stuff. The Notices offer no suggestion as to where the homeless could go, just that they couldn't stay there.
Three Camps have been targeted for removal:
G and Santa Clara
Streets
Scheduled for: August 26th, 2013
7:00 AM
Los Angeles and E
Streets
Scheduled for: September 3rd, 2013
7:00 AM
H Street south of Ventura Avenue
Scheduled for: September 9th, 2013
7:00 AM
It is Police Chief Jerry Dyers stated goal to put on the street a "new task force that includes police and code enforcement officers (that) will be on the streets seven days a week, nipping the birth of new camps in the bud." (Fresno Bee July 29, 2013)
Yes, it appears the City's plan is to displace hundreds of Homeless folks, then harass them wherever they turn up inside of city limits. Granted, there have been opportunities for some Homeless to sign up for housing, but there are a limited number of slots and many just don't meet the requirements.
We'll see how this all plays out at G and Santa Clara on the 26th. There will be many observers in place to document the actions of the city workers and law enforcement.
How did we get here?
The latest push to remove the downtown encampments came after the July 5th murder of Jordan Mullin, aged 20. That event got the wheels in motion at City Hall. At a barely announced press conference on July 29th, Chief Dyer reported that two arrests had been made in that shooting. He then took the opportunity, with several city officials present, to announce the impending destruction of the camps. Razing was the word used in reports of that event by the Fresno Bee to describe the city's plans for the encampments.
Two fires at encampments have become high-profile as the broadcast and print media makes every effort to portray the camps as dangerous breeding grounds for drugs, prostitution and crime.
Every week there are church folk, many in their 70's and 80's, who travel downtown to the camps to bring a few snacks, water and toilet paper to the residents. They do so with caution but not with fear. They don't find many angels in the camps, but they do find among the occupants; human beings in need of help.