Tag: homelessness

Los Angeles Spends $44,000 Per ‘Temporary’ Tent For Homeless Village

Los Angeles is reportedly spending $44,000 for each individual tent in a temporary tent village for homeless people in East Hollywood, The Messenger reports.

All told, it cost about $4 million to put up fencing, bathrooms, and staffing facilities for the village. Catering services and 24-7 staffing cost an additional $3 million per year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Despite the high costs, the site is only temporary. It’s located on a parking lot that will eventually be turned into public housing. But because it will take years for construction to commence on that project, the city decided to fill the space with tents in the meantime.

San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy maintains the encampment. Launched in 2018 with a small grant, the group hires mostly former prisoners because they have the “ability to read people in unpredictable situations.”

According to several lawsuits, however, some of those employees have engaged in abusive behavior.

After expanding to Portland and Austin, the group brought in $51 million in 2021.

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Homeless Program in Washington State Has Burned Through $143 Million to House Less Than 1,000 People

Washington State has been trying to deal with their homeless problem, but they haven’t had much success.

A program designed to close down tent communities and get homeless people into housing has already spent $143 million dollars to house less than a thousand people. That’s a horrible ratio.

And now they want more cash, because they think this program has been so effective.

FOX News reports:

Blue state’s $143 million homeless program got less than a thousand people housed. Now governor wants more

An initiative to remove homeless camps from roadways needs more money to continue next year, according to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, after burning through $143 million in a little over a year.

“You can’t do this with zero dollars,” Inslee, a Democrat, told KOMO News. “We’ll need the legislature in January to step up to increase funding so we can continue the progress we’re making.”

Inslee’s statewide Rights-of-Way Safety Initiative began in June 2022 with the goal of removing homeless camps from state property near roads and offering housing to the people living in the camps.

On Friday, Inslee toured a tiny home village in Olympia funded by the initiative that will soon provide shelter to 50 people who previously lived in an encampment along I-5, KOMO reported. The governor said during the tour that the safety initiative is out of money and, come January, camps will remain on state lands if the legislature does not allocate more funds.

“We’re very proud of the work state agencies have done in our right of way initiative working alongside local officials and service providers,” a spokesperson for the governor told Fox News in an email. “We will take as much funding as we can get to continue this work.”

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Texas man found ‘not guilty’ after being ticketed for feeding homeless

A Texas man was found not guilty after he was ticketed for feeding homeless people in Houston.

According to Fox 26, Phillip Picone opted to go to trial after being ticketed while volunteering for Food Not Bombs, a group that has been feeding homeless people near the public library in Downtown Houston for 20 years.

The city had outlawed setting up feeding stations, initially citing public health and safety concerns after violent incidents near the library. It asked that charities moved their services to the old Houston Police Headquarters.

The jury unanimously found Picone “not guilty.”

Picone received his ticket on March 3 and is the first of dozens of volunteers to go to trial. Attorney Paul Kubosh represents him and 37 other volunteers.

“What I’m hoping for is vindication,” Kubosh told Fox 26 before the hearing. “I’m hoping for not guilty. If you’re trying to affect the lives of homeless and trying to make their situation better, you don’t do that by attacking the Samaritan. This law is not about the homeless. It’s about the Samaritan.”

The city of Houston defended the charges in a statement.

“The City of Houston intends to vigorously pursue violations of its ordinance relating to feeding of the homeless,” city attorney Arturo Michel said. “It is a health and safety issue for the protection of Houston’s residents. There have been complaints and incidents regarding the congregation of the homeless around the library, even during off hours.”

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Woke Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones accused of covering up sexual assaults by homeless man

Infamous Democratic Tennessee House Rep. Justin Jones allegedly covered up two sexual assaults committed by a homeless man, according to a 2020 Facebook post made by fellow activist Jeneisha Harris and recently unearthed by journalist Matt Murphy.

In the post, Harris said Jones witnessed two women get assaulted during a protest, then told the victims not to report the incident to police out of fears it would shift the “narrative” of the event, which he was supporting.

“For almost a week now, there has been a group of protestors demonstrating outside the Capitol to advocate for the removal of Nathan Bedford’s bust,” Harris wrote. “Last night, a homeless man sexually assaulted two women who were protesting. Two different incidents. Same man.”

She explained that Jones, “Nashville’s favorite activist,” witnessed the attack, but when the group suggested that it should be reported, he said the women had to stay silent “because it would change the narrative of why they’re actually protesting,” and that, “the incident would overpower the advocacy.”

Harris went on slam Jones for embodying the “egotistical, prideful, and patriarchal activism” in Nashville, and said that even she, someone who never trusted the police, wanted the women to report the homeless man to achieve some level of protection.

“F*ck you to Justin, his fake activism and anyone who defends what he did,” she stated, unapologetically.

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Trump Advocates Mass Incarceration, ‘Tent Cities’ To Address Homelessness

On April 18, former President Donald Trump posted a video on his Truth Social account titled “Homelessness Plan.” In it, Trump alleged that “the homeless, the drug-addicted, and the violent and dangerously deranged” had ruined America’s cities, “turn[ing] every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs.” He promised, “When I’m back in the White House, we will use every tool, lever, and authority” to “end the scourge of homelessness and make our cities clean and safe and beautiful once again.”

How would he accomplish this? “Working with states, we will ban urban camping wherever possible…. We will then open up large parcels of inexpensive land; bring in doctors, psychiatrists, social workers, and drug rehab specialists; and create tent cities where the homeless can be relocated and their problems identified.”

Treatment would be catered to individual need: “For those who have addictions, substance abuse, and common mental health problems, we will get them into treatment. And for those who are severely mentally ill and deeply disturbed, we will bring them back to mental institutions where they belong, with the goal of reintegrating them back into society once they are well enough to manage.”

Trump’s plan may sound magnanimous, but it’s anything but. First off, there’s no telling what such a plan, or for that matter any plan, would cost. Advocates often say that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates $20 billion as the cost of ending homelessness in America. But that number was an informal, unverified estimate of the annual cost in 2012. And as Nan Roman, president and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, told VERIFY in 2021, “It’s not so difficult to figure out what it would cost to end homelessness for everyone who is homeless tonight…. The problem is that more people BECOME homeless every day because they don’t earn enough to pay for housing – we’re 7 million housing units short to meet the needs of low-income people.”

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Cop Shoots Homeless Man Until He Collapses, Shoots Him Again on the Ground to Finish Him Off

Chilling video was released this week showing several officers surrounding a homeless man before one officer dumps seven rounds into him, continuing to shoot him even after he fell to the ground — ensuring his execution.

The incident unfolded on Jan. 3 as police responded to a 911 call from a resident claiming the man was on top of his fence. When officers arrived, they found the unnamed homeless man sitting on the ground, leaning back against the fence. Moments later, the man would be filled with bullet holes.

According to a press release from the Phoenix police department, the man was simply accused of looking over a resident’s fence.

This incident occurred in the area of 35th Avenue and Broadway Road when Phoenix Police received a call about a man trying to enter a residential back yard. The caller described a man on top of his backyard fence who became angry when the caller confronted him.

Multiple officers were dispatched to the area. After talking with the caller, the officers were directed to the alleyway behind the house. Three officers found a man in the alley matching the description given. The man had a pair of scissors in his right hand.

As the video shows, the officers interviewed the caller who informed them that the man merely looked over his fence and never entered his yard. No crime had been committed as ‘becoming angry’ is not illegal. Nevertheless, officers surrounded the man like he was wanted for murder.

When the first officer saw the scissors, he immediately brandished his pistol and began ordering the man to drop the scissors. The man, who was clearly in need of mental health care, did not respond to the commands.

The man then stood up as two officers deployed their tasers. Unfortunately, the tasers had little to no effect on the man who then took a step toward the officers only to be filled with bullet holes. The police statement described the incident as follows:

The officers order the man, in both English and Spanish, to drop the scissors. When the man did not respond to their commands, two officers deployed their tasers. The taser deployments had little effect. The man then advanced towards the officers with the scissors still in his hand. That is when the officer-involved shooting occurred.

It is important to note the difference in the level of the description given to the entire scenario versus the part where the officer killed the man. Nowhere in their statement did they mention that the officer shot the man six times as he collapsed to the ground. Nowhere in the police statement does it mention that another shot was fired into the man’s body a full 3 seconds after he had been lying on the ground.

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San Francisco Art Gallery Owner Arrested for Spraying Homeless Woman with Hose

The owner of a San Francisco art gallery who was caught on video spraying a homeless woman on the sidewalk with water from a garden hose has been arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery in the incident.

Video of the encounter was posted to the Internet and went viral. As Breitbart News reported last week:

A San Francisco art gallery owner was caught on video spraying a homeless woman with a garden hose on the street in front of his storefront because she would not move down the street — and she was later hospitalized.

Debate raged online about whether the man was justified …

San Francisco has suffered an exodus of businesses due to crime, open-air drug use, the growth of a large homeless population, and the availability of work-from-home options for many workers in the tech industry.

Police have now acted, the Los Angeles Times reported, after the man publicly admitted his actions:

Collier Gwin, 71, faces a charge of misdemeanor battery after being accused of intentionally and unlawfully spraying water on a woman who was sitting on a sidewalk outside his gallery, according to the San Francisco district attorney’s office, which said it issued an arrest warrant for Gwin after reviewing the evidence from a police investigation.

Gwin was arrested at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and was booked at a county jail on the arrest warrant. The case remains an open investigation, police said in a statement.

…

If convicted, Gwin could face up to six months in county jail and a $2,000 fine, prosecutors said.

The art gallery had publicly apologized for the incident earlier this week, the San Francisco Chronicle noted.

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Cop Fired But Never Charged for Feeding Homeless Man a Literal ‘Sh*t Sandwich’ — Is a Cop Again

In November of 2016, the Free Thought Project brought you the disgusting story of a San Antonio cop putting feces on a piece of bread and giving it to a homeless man as food. For making a literal sh*t sandwich, San Antonio police officer Matthew Luckhurst was fired. Months later, the Free Thought Project learned that Luckhurst was involved in yet another feces-related ‘prank’ — after the sh*t sandwich.

After both of these incidents, Luckhurst was quietly rehired in 2019, only to be fired again in 2020. As the SA Express points out, Luckhurst appealed again when he was re-canned for the second feces-related incident. In June 2020 an arbitrator agreed the police department was justified in the dismissal. “This individual clearly has no business wearing an SAPD uniform,” City Manager Erik Walsh said.

But that did not mean this shitty cop was barred from all police uniforms.

Because the system is terrible at holding bad cops accountable, however, Luckhurst became a gypsy cop and was rehired at the Floresville Police Department, 30 miles outside of San Antonio.

This rehiring of Luckhurst shows just how broken the system is. When we can’t keep out repeat offenders because of silly loopholes, something is seriously wrong.

“It was a disgusting, vile act — that, there is no excuse; there is no explaining it; there is no justification,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told KOMO News after the termination of an officer for, quite literally, giving a homeless man a sh*t sandwich.

“It’s a disgrace to the department, it’s a disgrace to the badge,” McManus continued.

As we reported at the time, Luckhurst inexplicably thought it would be humorous to place feces in between two slices of bread and offer it to a likely-starving homeless person in a styrofoam takeout box, and then boast of this ‘prank’ to his partner.

His partner, however, didn’t share the sentiment — and the pair of cops returned to the scene, where Luckhurst ostensibly disposed of the sickening, cruel offering.

Only a month after being caught in this sick and twisted ‘prank’ on an innocent homeless man — before he was fired — Lockhurst pulled another sh*t prank. This time, his sh*tty shenanigans would be on his fellow cops.

Luckhurst and a second officer, Steve Albart, carried out the incident together in June 2015 after a female officer asked that the women’s restroom at a bike-patrol office remain clean, KSAT-TV reports.

To get back at the officer for asking that the women’s bathroom remain clean, Albart and Lockhurst then defecated in the toilet and then Lockhurst smeared a feces-like substance all over the seat.

For not flushing the toilet, Albart was suspended for 30 days, which he’s already served.

You cannot make this up.

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LA Turns To A “Mansion Tax” To Try And Solve Its Homelessness Problem

Believe it or not, California thinks it has a solution to the homelessness problem that can be solved with additional taxation! Go figure.

A new measure in Los Angeles, called Measure ULA, is set to generate $900 million in taxes that will then be used for housing subsidies and tenant protections. The tax is essentially a levy on all property sales of more than $5 million, according to Bloomberg.

This “mansion tax”, if it passes, will look to “speed new construction and deliver a way out of the city’s spiraling homelessness crisis”, according to Bloomberg. It could generate some $900 million per year to provide infrastructure like affordable homes and tools like counsel for tenants in eviction courts. 

Laura Raymond, director of the nonprofit Alliance for Community Transit–Los Angeles, told Bloomberg: “This would be the biggest investment in tenant protections in the history of LA.”

Yes, and it would be another reason on a long list of reasons for Californians to continue their exodus from the state to greener tax pastures like Florida and Texas. 

She continued: ““We want to make sure that once this has passed, the housing experts, community organizations, community leaders and people who’ve been doing this work for many years are at the forefront of implementation.”

Meanwhile critics of the bill say it could ultimately wind up causing costs for developers and, subsequently rents, to rise. The city had tried to issue a bond in 2016 to provide the same type of relief, but that measure was “lackluster” in its success, the report says. 

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Innocent Grandma Arrested, Brought to Jail for Feeding the Homeless

In a logical and reasonable world, acts of kindness should be spotlighted and celebrated. Those carrying them out should be praised and their actions should set an example for all to follow. Unfortunately, however, we do not live in a reasonable world and acts of kindness are oftentimes met with force, loss of freedom, and sheer tyranny — just ask 78-year-old Norma Thornton.

For much of her life, Norma has been dedicating her time to helping those in need. As she moved from city to city throughout her 78 years on Earth, Norma would befriend the homeless population in each town and feed them. She cooks homemade meals, cleans their laundry, helps them connect with social services, and more.

For decades, Norma has improved the lives of countless individuals who have found themselves down on their luck. But when she got to Bullhead City, Ariz., all that changed. Because Bullhead City officials are not reasonable, Norma was kidnapped by armed agents of the state and threatened with being thrown in a cage — for giving hungry people food.

In Bullhead City, tyrannical officials have deemed it a criminal misdemeanor—punishable by fines and even imprisonment—to share prepared food in a public park “for charitable purposes.”

Highlighting the sheer lack of reason and logic is the “charitable purposes” portion of this ordinance. Norma could invite 150 of her friends and relatives to the park, cook for them, and feed them all and she wouldn’t be in violation of any law. But if those friends are homeless, the act becomes charitable, and therefore illegal.

Luckily, the folks with Institute for Justice have taken up Norma’s case and they are suing the city over this cruel and inhumane law.

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