New York homeless at Penn Station say officers threaten them with expulsion into deadly weather

[Lady Freedom Returns]

Amtrak police bully homeless taking refuge from cold
by Wilson Dizard @willdizard January 7, 2014 4:04PM ET

As Rachel lay napping in New York City’s Penn Station on Tuesday, an Amtrak police officer approached and banged on the wall next to her with his baton, startling her from sleep.

The officer told Rachel to get up from the floor or risk being removed from the station. She stood up and said, “Arrest me. I don’t care.”

Moving along the wall, the officer woke a homeless man by giving him a prodding kick to his feet, then roused several others.

Rachel, 43, has been homeless for seven years, and today she says she has no choice but to stay inside Penn Station, one of America’s biggest rail hubs. The frigid cold outside is life-threatening, with temperatures dropping into single digits and wind chills as low as 20 below zero.

Read more @ http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/1/7/amtrak-homeless-pennstationnewyorkcity.html

[dipsydoodle]

1. Disgusting

especially given the current weather conditions.

[warrant46]

2. The Republican Party wants nature to eliminate them

They could send them to the "showers" but that would require transportation. Just better to let them freeze to death on the sidewalks.

This is what Boner is praying for.

[LuvNewcastle]

3. Why can't they just leave them alone?

Unless they're in the way of the travelers, they should leave them alone, at least while the weather is so horrible. If those shelters are so dangerous for the homeless, maybe they need to have more staff in them who can watch what's going on. If they would keep the people in the shelters safe, they wouldn't have such a problem with them sleeping in public places.

[jwirr]

4. Not to mention that there are probably people among those at the station that are stranded there

because of the snow and cold. They just cannot get back to their homes. I like the answer "Arrest me. I don't care." The mentally ill in SE IA used to get arrested so they could be placed in the state hospitals during the cold times. No so mentally ill as one thinks - just smart enough to survive.

There is no compassion in our police forces anymore. Another thing that has changed and not for the better.

[cinnabonbon]

5. Horrifying

we can't do that to people.

[countryjake]

6. K&R!

fuckers!