by UNICORNRIOT
In the early morning of December 15th, Denver police forced dozens of homeless community members of Resurrection Village into blizzard conditions.
Denver, Colorado – In the early morning of December 15th, Denver police forced dozens of homeless community members of Resurrection Village into blizzard conditions. Since their tiny homes action on Oct. 24th, Resurrection Village members have been sleeping near various unused empty lots owned by the Denver Housing Authority and had set up tents the night before to provide temporary shelter from the impending snowstorm.
19 degrees and a foot of snow @DenverPolice is forcing homeless folks out of their tents https://t.co/Mx706ciNsX pic.twitter.com/1vzrI38Xo3
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) December 15, 2015
Police arrived around 6 am in the midst of hard snowfall and brutal winds while everyone was warm, dry and sleeping.
DPD then ordered the community to dismantle their tents and disperse.
We were able to live stream the encounter:
Denver Police’s response on twitter was to tweet about their homeless outreach and goal of getting everyone out of the cold.
Same day Denver Police evict homeless out of warm tents and into snow storm, they cry about never getting a snow day https://t.co/3hfBw2VhAF
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) December 15, 2015
Police suggested that if the Resurrection Village camp was placed somewhere unseen they would have been left alone. A homeless community member responded by stating,
“If you’re trying to change something, you don’t go and hide, you bring it to the forefront.”
From The Gathering Place:
“The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative conducts a Point-In-Time survey every year to assess the demographics of homelessness in our community. The last survey was taken in January of 2015 and found that 6,130 individuals were experiencing homelessness in the seven county Metro Denver area.”
Specifics on Denver’s unethical Urban Camping Ban are described in the video below by a member of Denver Homeless Outloud who conducted a city wide survey of Denver’s houseless population in 2013.
Stupid idiots. I would take the arrest, at least I’d be warm and probably fed. People are homeless for a reason not a choice. Heartless gutless cowards.
You stupid for wanting to get locked up. How about force them to a homeless shelter
So you agree with what was done to these people?
Have you ever had to use a homeless shelter?
Do you know how unsafe most shelters are?
Or are you one of those who believe that homelessness is a choice and they deserve to be treated like they’re less than human?
“How about force them to a homeless shelter”.
How about just leave them the fuck ALONE since they’re all asleep and NOT BOTHERING ANYONE?
Is that concept too much for your small mind or something?
Some of them i was homeless myself and i know some people are homeless not by choice but theres more homeless that are homeless by choice theyd rather use there ssi checks on drugs booze etc.and if you offer jobs to them they dont wanna work either.most homeless do get govermment assistance.but they rather sell there foodstamps for drugs.i saw it with my own eyes when i went homeless and stayed in a local shelter.its reality….if your riding around and a homeless guy is asking for money ,you dont know if hes the real not by choice homeless people..that way you can help out.so its all messsed up.
Yeah and you might end up fatally tazed, beaten or shot instead of arrested too.
Cops are not willing to take you to jail for three hots and a cot – unless of course there’s something in it for them. Like, for example, a good ass-kicking to satisfy their ‘roid-rage. Killing you would be even better.
Don’t EVER think cops are your friend. They’re NOT.
Why won’t the community say something or do something. Homeless shelters have too many rules, Some want you to have an Id and majority of the people don’t have birth certificates.
Colorado and its Well To Do Community as a tendinitis to vote our homeless into criminals. This allows them to treat them like they have committed a horrible crime, and they do not get back lash. But let me make it clear. The People Voted for this. It is sad. I did not vote for this and I do my best every day to help make it right. And let me correct the ass that wants to say they are there by choice, and spending there SSI checks on drugs and alcohol. Back in the early 1980’s out president shut down over 200,000 state mental words, throwing the patients on to the streets. They where given NO resources, and lost there Medicine that was needed to function. So no we have a massive homeless population, that is mentally ill, trying to SELF MEDICATE!!!! It is our fault!! If you are going to trash talk there only coping tool offered to them , then do something about it!!!!
O and in Colorado Springs where I live not only did we vote to make them criminals, they dont even respect them enough to give them a name when they find them dead in our creaks.I hate the heart of this town and this state. Yes there are a few that care, but the way you all voted, shows the true color of this state.
This is another seen of off the grid housing. I have also been in that area when it snows, and snow is no joke there. What, are these homeless going to stay in a ten when there it multiple feet of snow?How does that work? Tents aren’t made to keep snow at all, and sooner or later its going to melt. The cop in this video looks to be a public relations officer and has to follow orders of code and safety. Its rough out there, and there has to be emergency housing for them. It’s much cheaper to keep the homeless housed, give them an apartment, fully furnished. Remember if one homeless person gets frost bite and needs to be amputated, the hospital bill can run into the millions very easily. Now imagine the tens of thousands it happens to each year.
Millions? To cut of some toes and stay some days in hospital? It would be cheaper to ship the homeless ot the caribbeans and pay a rent for the next 30 years… I like the way the US is fucking up it’s own people.
snow by itself can keep you warm anyone that has lived in the north knows how to protect them selves by making a snow fort or igloo -once made its warm inside-our people have lived in the snow for thousands of years-the us cal used to burn the tipis of the 1 st nation all the time but they learned to live by using the snow to keep warm
You know I was born in Denver. To be honest I am extremely ashamed of the dpd to put these people in the cold. Leave them be they were harming no one. To be honest with the world, Denver’s homeless shelters are over crowded. Msgr Woodrich did a lot for Denver’s homeless, so did Daddy Bruce. The resources to help these folks are hard and please to anyone out there donate from your heart this holiday season. Be a good Samaritan and help these folks.
When viewed from the perspective of an imperative to preserve life, to err on the side of forced incarceration in a protected environment versus the risk of death from exposure — I really don’t any other logical side to the argument. However, if taxpayer dollars had gone into setting up the tents in the first place, then a violation of public trust might be worth debating.
I am an Australian and I reckon that America the land of the not really free should be truly ashamed of itself.
This is shameful … I have been homeless and shelters and or jail is not where many want to be, I knew vets who couldn’t be indoors for fear of ptsd attacks in their sleep . A shelter when your alone can actually be worse than being on the street huddled up with other who watch each others back. Many times there is “bullies” for lack of a better word in these shelters who make it worse to be in one than on the street many have paid positions in shelters; they know how to work the system… and in doing so open doors to worse things than being just homeless… I am just a woman who has been through the bad side of life and experienced it…
When you drive past 60 or so people sleeping against a wall in the middle of downtown Denver at 3 in the afternoon, day after day after day, sympathy tends to wane. There was an article in Westword recently wherein several of the interviewees are quoting as purposely dropping out of the drudgery of work, and rent, etc. But don’t seek the myriad city services available because they see themselves as “independent by asking for spare change.” So, the rest of us have to suffer the drudgery of work, responsibility, rent, taxes, etc. and then provide what little remains for their alternative lifestyle. That being said, this is not an appropriate response. But as a Denver resident, I would like to utilize bike paths and walk the streets without having to side-step and dodge people who just decided to lay down where they were standing.
Your compassion for others is duly noted Josh; as is your self-identification. There being so few enlightened people on the planet, it warms my heart to know that not everyone on this planet does not share your sense of entitlement. Your life may be one of lowly transient attachments. May you someday realize you’re merely living out karma.
You poor dear. All that drudgery. Why not adopt the alternative lifestyle and get some rest. You’ll have to get it leaning on a wall or sleeping in a snowstorm, but hey you’ll be free of the drudgery. Too bad the guys you describe function as the face of homelessness. What you don’t see are the homeless families sleeping in their cars or homeless moms and their kids sleeping in the bus station or having to live for months on end in an overcrowded shelter. Maybe if they were out asking for spare change people would get a clearer picture of homelessness.
Of course the assumption is that the homeless shelters aren’t filled to the brim already given the weather conditions. If you’re worried about those homeless people that commenter Tony alludes to, there’s an easy fix. Donate to the local food bank, clothing bank, community health clinics, and meal kitchens that provide services to the homeless and/or volunteer there. No need to hand out dollars here and there and wonder what they will be used for. Of course, Tony didn’t mention all the women and children that are homeless. Guess he didn’t meet them despite their huge numbers.