• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
WRAP

WRAP

Western Regional Advocacy Project

  • Donate Now
  • Get Email Updates
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About
    • 40 Years of Fighting
    • History
    • Mission
    • Strategy
    • Members
    • Board / Staff
  • Campaigns
    • Business Improvement Districts
    • House Keys Not Sweeps
    • Legal Defense Clinics Project
    • Homeless Bill of Rights
    • Oregon Right To Rest
    • Without Housing
    • Street Outreach
  • Organizing Tools
    • Without Housing Organizing Toolkit
    • Homeless Bill of Rights Campaign Manual
    • WRAP Organizers Manual
    • WRAP Artwork
  • Resources
    • Pipe Dreams and Picket Fences Report
    • Art in Action Power Point Slide Show
    • Hobos to Street People
    • House Keys Book
    • Political Education
    • Legal Research
  • Media
    • Newsletters
    • Blog
    • Hobos to Street People Art Show
    • Street Newspapers
    • Sweeps Gallery Videos
    • Videos
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Become a Monthly Sustainer
    • Volunteer
    • Support WRAP
    • WRAP Newsletters & Updates Sign Up

Denver, Co. Colorado State Troopers and Denver City Raid Encampment at Lincoln Park: 200 PLUS PEOPLE KICKED OUT WITH NOWHERE TO GO AND NO WARNING

July 29, 2020 by Jonathan Leave a Comment

Denver, CO– Today, Wednesday July 29th 2020, Governor Polis and Mayor Hancock ordered a mass sweep of Lincoln Park where 154 tents, about 200 people without housing, have been living for the past couple of months. The sweep was planned secretly by the City and State. State and City officials know the plan at least days ago and intentionally did not tell residents of the encampment, council people, or community organizers. If they were doing something good for the community, would they not want to make that public?? Instead only a handful of residents were even told verbally the day before that this might happen and most residents received no warrening until waking up in the morning to 100 riot cops at their tent. This is a direct violation of the agreement the city made in the recent class action lawsuit to give 7 days notice before sweeps.

Instead of storing people’s property, as is required by law, a bulldozer was used to indiscriminately scoop up and dump countless tents full of people’s property. Anyone who was not present, as they received no warning this was happening, lost all their property today. Furthermore, by about 10am State Troopers closed the fence they had put around the park and refused to let residents of the encampment who were coming back to their tent after being gone for the morning or night (some due to work that keeps they out) were blocked from going into the park to get their property. Multiple residents showed up and told Troopers they had their wallet and ID in the camp and even so Troopers would not let them in saying “they should have gotten here sooner.”

For a while community members protesting the sweep held the gate open to enable residents to go in and retrieve their property. But then State Troopers suddenly rushed the crowd, pushing people over, grabbing two women’s breasts (including a 13 year old girl), arresting one woman for no reason, and sending Elected Education Board member, Tay Anderson to the hospital.

State Troopers and Police also injured one man’s arm to the point of massive bleeding when handcuffing and arresting him while standing in the way of a bulldozer trashing people’s property.

Many residents of this encampment are newly homeless after losing jobs or housing due to COVID. These people are totally at a loss for where to go or what to do. They do not feel safe at a shelter and are currently scattered around our city looking for somewhere to be.

Yesterday and today the City sent a massive bus to the park all day to take people to the shelter. This is at the very time as the National Western Men’s shelter is being shut down, the Women are being moved from the Coliseum shelter, and over all there is a reduction in bed spaces at these shelters. The bus driver informed us that he had taken one man to the shelter yesterday, and that man did not actually even want to go there – he simply took the ride to get away from the police and did not plan on staying at the shelter. So not one of the 200 plus residents of this encampment felt a mass shelter with hundreds of other people was a viable option for them.

Residents of this encampment were not offered housing or even hotel rooms by the city. The SOS site for a designated camp area is not even opened up yet. The only answer to the question of “move along to where” the city would give is, on a bus to mass congregate shelters. This is not an answer.

We cannot let the State or the City get away with this kind of destruction and injustice. They have violated the communities rights and left hundreds of people with no property and nowhere to survive.

Email the Mayor and Governor – DEMAND JUSTICE
mayorsoffice@denvergov.org and GovernorPolis@state.co.us

Share your objection on social media

LET OUR VOICE BE HEARD.

Stay tuned for more action to end this insanity…


Contact:
info@denverhomelessoutloud.org
720-940-5291

Filed Under: #right2rest, #StopTheSweeps, Denver Homeless Out Loud

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Footer

Instagram Feed

Does the litany of laws forbidding camping, loiter Does the litany of laws forbidding camping, loitering, trespassing, blocking the sidewalk and panhandling make society safer? https://conta.cc/3ZrNvk5
https://conta.cc/48wWLr8
Welcome to the WRAP-UP! Boise, ID. Video Shows Fam Welcome to the WRAP-UP!	Boise, ID. Video Shows Family Violently Arrested and Severely Injured for Living in Park, and more news from our members.  https://conta.cc/3R8Efzl
https://conta.cc/3r3rHhU
Washington D.C. PRESS RELEASE: Congresswoman Bush Washington D.C. PRESS RELEASE: Congresswoman Bush Re-Introduces Unhoused Bill of Rights https://wraphome.org/
After nearly 30 years of continuous publication, w After nearly 30 years of continuous publication, we have lost our funding. Street Spirit ceased publication on July 1, but we will not give up! Our newspaper is an invaluable source of East Bay news, and a vital resource for the people who sell it. Come party with us to support our effort to relaunch. https://conta.cc/3rifOod
WRAP is Hiring - Member Organizer WRAP was founde WRAP is Hiring - Member Organizer 
WRAP was founded in 2005 by local social justice organizations across the West to bring about real systemic change. We are building a multi-issue, multi-racial and social justice-based coalition which brings organizations together across the local–national divide, thus giving us the strength and experience to make ending poverty and homelessness a national priority. https://conta.cc/3XD5QK9
Celebrating Resistance Relationships June 30, 202 Celebrating Resistance Relationships 
June 30, 2023 * 6:00 - 8:00 pm 
320 West 37th Street, New York, NY 10018
State of the “Sweeps” The politics of encampme State of the “Sweeps”
The politics of encampments and displacement in the “post” pandemic order
Public panel discussion, June 14, 4-5:30pm Communications 120
University of Washington, Seattle
Undercommons Archives Art Show Thursday June 15th Undercommons Archives Art Show
Thursday June 15th 7-10pm 
Adobe Books 3130 24th St. SF
Instagram post 17863401230948820 Instagram post 17863401230948820
San Francisco, CA. Mayor’s Plan to Expand Shelte San Francisco, CA. Mayor’s Plan to Expand Shelter GUTS HOUSING FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES AND YOUTH 
https://wraphome.org/2023/05/31/mayors-plan-to-expand-shelter-guts-housing-for-homeless-families-and-youth/
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Facebook Icon

Facebook Feed

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Link thumbnail

Sacramento prosecutor sues California’s capital city over failure to clean up homeless encampments

clbn.us

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento’s top prosecutor is suing the city’s leaders over failure to cleanup homeless encampments, escalating ...
2 days ago
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Twitter Icon

Twitter Feed

Twitter feed is not available at the moment.

YouTube icon

Youtube Code

Our Channel

Copyright © 2023 Western Regional Advocacy Project WRAP · Log in