Tag: homelessness

Charity Builds Dozens of Tiny Homes for Homeless on PRIVATE PROPERTY, Cops & Gov’t Destroy All Of It

In 2020, The Free Thought Project reported on the work of two groups, Food Not Bombs and the Sidewalk Project, who raised $16,000 and built 26 tiny homes in Las Vegas for the city’s homeless community. It was an amazing feat put together by a handful of caring people trying to better their community but it came to a chaotic and destructive end when police and city officials raided the camp and destroyed all the homes.

The City of Las Vegas claimed that the destruction of the homes was justified as the city maintains “this right of way for NDOT, the property owner.” Joey Lankowski, who does homeless outreach with Food Not Bombs, sought to remedy this problem of building tiny homes on public property by raising money to purchase their own swath of land on private property.

Since last year, members of Food Not Bombs, the Sidewalk Project, and the New Leaf Community have been working tirelessly, volunteering countless hours of their personal time, to build a community of tiny homes on this newly owned piece of property.

For months volunteers built the tiny homes and allowed the community’s houseless population to live on the property. The community was thriving until earlier this year when the bureaucratic police state set their sights on the project’s private property.

The code enforcement division of the Las Vegas city government claimed that the property was in violation of zoning ordinance NLVMC 17.20.10 which states that the “accessory uses are not permitted” on the private property. According to the notice, a single family residence must be on the property before the tiny homes could be built and heavy fines would follow if they did not get “up to code.”

Since then, the city has waged an immoral war against the tiny home community and levied even more seemingly frivolous ordinance violations.

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Seattle Cleared Out Two Homeless Encampments to Prepare for Joe Biden’s Visit

The city of Seattle cleared out two homeless encampments in preparation for Joe Biden’s visit.

Approximately 15 homeless people were displaced by Democrat Mayor Bruce Harrell to make sure the area looked nice for the president on his Earth Day visit.

Jamie Housen, spokesperson for the mayor’s office, told the Seattle Times that the encampments were cleared “so that the city could close the streets and limit access to sidewalks to ensure the safety of the president.”

The homeless people were given two days to move their belongings or have them trashed by Seattle Parks and Recreation.

“Housen said that nine tents and shelter structures were removed from Virginia Street to Olive Way between Sixth and Fifth avenues. Three people staying there left on their own and four others were referred to shelter by the city’s encampment outreach team,” the Seattle Times reported. “Four tents were removed between Lenora and Virginia streets, from Fifth Avenue to Fourth Avenue. Four people there left voluntarily and two others were referred to shelters.”

The city removed several other encampments as well, but claimed that those ones did not have anything to do with Biden’s visit.

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‘I’m now full of hate, anger and bitterness’: NYC subway shooting ‘person of interest’ posted unhinged and bigoted videos ranting about ‘killing everything in sight’ and slamming Mayor Eric Adams, homelessness and unsafe subways

The ‘person of interest’ in the Brooklyn subway shooting posted hundreds of unhinged and bigoted videos on his YouTube channel ranting about ‘killing everything in site’ and slamming New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the city’s homelessness crisis and unsafe subways.

Frank James, 62, has been named as a person of interest in the attack which left 10 people with gunshot wounds, with police offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.    

Police said keys found at the 36th Street subway station in Sunset Park belong to a U-Haul truck in Brooklyn that was rented by James and found abandoned five miles from the scene in Brooklyn.

Authorities are now examining social media videos in which James made ‘concerning’ threats against Mayor Adams and raged against white people, Puerto Ricans, Jewish people, climate change and the police, whilst also decrying the United States as a racist place awash in violence. Officials have since tightened security for Adams.

‘This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it’s going to die a violent death. There’s nothing going to stop that,’ James said in a ranting video on YouTube under the name ‘Prophet of Truth88’. 

The rambling, profanity-filled YouTube videos posted by James, who is black, are replete with violent language and bigoted comments, sometimes against other black people. He is also featured sharing conspiracy theories – such as claiming that the Twin Towers could never have been brought down on 9/11 by planes. 

One video, posted April 11, criticizes crime against black people and says drastic action is needed.

‘You got kids going in here now taking machine guns and mowing down innocent people,’ James says. ‘It’s not going to get better until we make it better,’ he said, adding that he thought things would only change if certain people were ‘stomped, kicked and tortured’ out of their ‘comfort zone.’ 

Several of James’ videos mention New York’s subway. One, posted on February 20, says the mayor and governor’s plan to address homelessness and safety in the subway system ‘is doomed for failure’ whilst another on January 25 criticizes Adams’ plan to end gun violence.

James references psychiatric facilities he has attended in the Bronx and in New Jersey, saying the staff failed to help him and ‘made me more dangerous’.

‘Mr. Mayor, I’m a victim of your mental health program,’ James said in one lengthy video.

‘I’m 63 now full of hate, full of anger, and full of bitterness.’

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“Gary Is Just Making Up Random #s” – San Francisco Homeless Officials Caught Lying About Fabricated Data

The operator of San Francisco’s supervised drug use site fabricated the number of people who the site allegedly served, according to a San Francisco Department of Public Health executive, whose emails were released as part of California’s Public Records Act.

“I think Gary is just making up random #s,” wrote Dr. Rob Hoffman, Special Project Manager with the San Francisco Department of Health, in a February 8 email to other city employees including ones with the Department of Emergency Management and city homeless service agencies.

Gina McDonald, co-founder of Mothers Against Drug Deaths, filed the public records request, and was the first to report that of the 23,367 drug users who have visited the Tenderloin Linkage Center, just 18 have received drug treatment. 

The Gary in question is Gary McCoy, an employee of city contractor HealthRight360, which is one of the private sector operators of the Tenderloin Linkage Center, which San Francisco Mayor London Breed created last December as part of her proposed crackdown on the open drug market in United Nations Plaza in downtown San Francisco.

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LA Spends Billions to House a Fraction of Homeless Population

According to watchdog group Open the Books, the city of Los Angeles dedicated $1.2 billion in 2016 to try and fight homelessness through building affordable housing units. 

Since the program was approved, about 1,200 units have been completed – with some units costing taxpayers over $700,000 each, according to a city audit. One project currently underway is estimated to cost almost $837,000 per unit.

“The plan was to get the homeless people in Los Angeles into permanent housing to get them off the street and make no mistake, Los Angeles has a big problem when it comes to the homeless,” said Open The Books’ Adam Andrzejewski to The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat. “In 2016, that $1.2 billion ordinance passed. It was a bond proposal for permanent housing for the homeless. And today, there are more people that are unhoused than ever before in the city of Los Angeles.”

While the homelessness crisis continues, Andrzejewski said a “bureaucratic culture” sprung up in the city.

“In city government, there are about 750 employees dedicated to housing and community development, and the top employee in that department makes more than a White House cabinet official,” said Andrzejewski.

According to polling by The Los Angeles Times and the L.A. Business Council Institute, nearly 40% of voters in the city feel “signi​ficantly unsafe”due to homelessness in their neighborhoods.

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Rep. Maxine Waters warns reporter over LA homeless story: ‘You’ll hurt yourself’

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) tried to stop the publication of a news story about Los Angeles’ homeless crisis this week, reportedly telling a Los Angeles Times scribe: “You’ll hurt yourself and the community trying to put this together.”

The Wednesday story by investigative reporter Connor Sheets detailed a March 25 incident in South Los Angeles, where hundreds of homeless people tried to obtain Section 8 housing vouchers after being misled by social media rumors.

The would-be applicants crashed an event held by nonprofit advocacy group Fathers and Mothers Who Care, which had been meant to help the unhoused obtain emergency shelter. 

The confusion reportedly overwhelmed the non-profit as well as Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA) workers who told the unexpected arrivals that they would only be able to provide their information and enter an emergency housing database.

At one point, Waters told the crowd: “I want everybody to go home,” triggering an angry response.

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Suspect in deadly shooting spree of DC, NYC homeless people arrested

A suspect in the serial killing and shooting of homeless people in the Big Apple and Washington, DC, was arrested early Tuesday in the capital, police announced.

The gunman – identified by a high-ranking police official as Gerald Brevard III, 30 – was busted when investigators showed up at his home in the southeastern section of the capital, law enforcement sources said.  

“ARRESTED: Early this AM, law enforcement arrested the suspect in Washington, DC,” the DC Police Department announced at 5:40 a.m.

“He is currently being interviewed at our Homicide Branch. Additional information will be forthcoming. Thanks to the community for all your tips.”

The arrest came just hours after the force released clear facial photos of the prime suspect who has been tied to two murders and three attempted homicides targeting homeless men in both cities.

The same man was linked to both cities after chilling video footage caught the cold-blooded slaying of one of two homeless people shot in Soho on Saturday. 

A Metropolitan Police Department homicide captain — who used to live in the Big Apple — saw surveillance photos and realized they looked like the man his department was also chasing.

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SERIAL KILLER ON THE LOOSE? Cops Investigate Connection Between Deadly Attacks On Homeless In New York City, Washington D.C.

NYPD Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell and D.C. Chief of Police Robert J. Contee, III of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC, announce that several shootings that occurred in the District of Columbia and New York City have been committed by the same suspect. Both departments are investigating these offenses jointly with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Between the two cities, there have been five shootings, including two homicides. In each offense, the victims were experiencing homelessness.

The most recent shootings occurred in New York City in the early morning hours of March 12. Both incidents involve homeless men who were sleeping on the street and were shot, without provocation, by a male suspect.

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Miami cops arrest ‘serial killer’ estate agent, 25, accused of murdering two homeless men and injuring a third in drive-by shootings: Police believe there may be other victims

Miami police suspect a 25-year-old, Cuban-born real estate agent of being a ‘serial killer’ after he was arrested in the killings of two homeless men and for critically wounding a third in a series of drive-by shootings from his Dodge Charger.

Willy Suarez Maceo allegedly shot a homeless man in the head near downtown Miami at 400 SW 2nd Avenue around 8 pm on Tuesday then pulled up alongside Jerome Antonio Price, 56,  two hours later and shot him dead as he slept on the sidewalk at Miami Avenue and 21st Street in Wynwood. The first victim survived.

He’s also suspected in the unsolved murder of another homeless man, 59-year-old Manuel Perez, at 27 SE 1st Street on October 16. 

A man pictured in surveillance footage at the scene closely resembles Maceo, and the vehicle seen driving away matches a black Dodge Charger caught in surveillance footage of the Tuesday shootings, police said. 

Maceo was arrested Thursday after he refused to drive away from an area with visible ‘no trespassing’ signs at 445 Northwest 4th Street, according to police reports. 

A rapid ballistics test of the firearm in his vehicle, which he had a permit to carry and conceal, linked him to Tuesday’s shootings, police said.

Miami Police Interim Chief Manuel A. Morales called Maceo a ‘ruthless killer’ who ‘brutally targeted’ the homeless in a press conference and suspects that ‘there may be other victims that suffered at the hands of this ruthless individual.’ 

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Seattle won’t remove homeless encampment from school grounds before students return to campus

Six weeks after Seattle Public Schools hosted a public meeting to address a dangerous homeless encampment on a public school property, pinning their hopes on one-man organization with an extensive criminal record to solve the problem, it was announced that the encampment behind Broadview Thomson K-8 School will not be removed before classes start on Sept. 1.

Meeting attendees said the campers are being made a higher priority than the children who attend the school and officials set no timeline for when the tents will be cleared.

Teachers, parents and neighbors have been calling for the encampment’s removal for over a year but have been stymied multiple times by the school board. In that time, the encampment has grown and currently 55 people are still living in tents on the property.

During a meeting Thursday night hosted by deputy superintendent Rob Gannon, school board member Liza Rankin, and Mike Mathias of Anything Helps, Mathias falsely claimed that the encampment was not a security threat despite numerous lockdowns in the school, violence in the encampment and overdose deaths. Due to the encampment, the district was forced to hire security guards after having banished police officers as school resource officers from campuses in 2020.

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