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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

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Urgent Help Needed Grants Pass is facing over 100 Urgent Help Needed 
Grants Pass is facing over 100F temperatures for the next 4 days Our homeless neighbors have no shelter, no shade & no water. Please help by donating bottled water or funds - we'll put every drop to good use! 
Venmo | Helen Cruz 
https://account.venmo.com/u/Helen-Cruz-30

Let's come together for those left in the heat, every bottle & dollar makes a difference
Community spirit and perspective and a cool organi Community spirit and perspective and a cool organizing training!
With sweeps and fascist policing/immigration tactics ramping up all over the country, we must make sure our initiatives to fight them are informed by, come from and are supported by the people who are directly impacted!!! Street outreach is how we do this!
https://conta.cc/46GwXKG
Join WRAP on Tuesday, July 22 on zoom at 3pm pt | Join WRAP on Tuesday, July 22 on zoom at 3pm pt | 4 pm mt | 6 pm et for a training on the different methodologies, context and implementation of street outreach! There will be examples from WRAP members who represent organizations in different states who have been fighting back against criminalization and sweeps in their communities.
Accountable organizing through street outreach! 

With sweeps and fascist policing/immigration tactics ramping up all over the country, we must make sure our initiatives to fight them are informed by, come from and are supported by the people who are directly impacted!!! 

Street outreach is how we do this! 

📣 WRAP : STREET OUTREACH TRAINING 
🗓️ Tuesday, July 22 | 🕒 3pm PT | 4pm MT | 6pm ET
🎟️ RSVP : bit.ly/wrapoutreach 
✉️ Contact joemae@wraphome.org for any questions

Read More: https://conta.cc/3ZXkCxS
Last year, on April 22nd, I stood with over 700 pe Last year, on April 22nd, I stood with over 700 people from around the country in front of the US Supreme Court demanding that the court focus on proven solutions to homelessness like housing, and not on things like handcuffs and jails that make homelessness worse. Months later, SCOTUS shamefully decided that homeless people are not included in the Constitution’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment and could be ticketed or arrested for simply sleeping outside. https://conta.cc/44m9rjl
The city continues to sneak in their sweeps of our The city continues to sneak in their sweeps of our friends and neighbors to nowhere. They sneak their sweeps in and hope those that care and give a sh&! against this violence won’t show up. We will do all we can to challenge this and won’t let the city block us from the community care they are afraid of.

Join us for a virtual gathering to learn how to show up, how to build community care. July 10th from 7-8:30pm. DM us for more info.

#sweepskill #fucksweeps #stopthesweeps #stoptheharrellhorrorshow #communitycare #showup
🏠Housing is a human right, and it is about time 🏠Housing is a human right, and it is about time our communities actually accept this!

On June 28th 2024, Grants Pass v Johnson was overturned (a case that had required cities to not criminalize the unhoused if adequate shelter was not provided by the city). On June 28th from 10am-12pm, we are asking our community to gather on the Missoula Courthouse lawn to show our city that we don’t support the ways they are criminalizing unhoused Missoulians. 📣

After the rally, from 12-2pm we will hear from various local organizations that are impacted and addressing this issue in our community. 🫂 From those working in the legal system to renters to mutual aid groups, our entire community is impacted by the overturning of Grants Pass v Johnson, the closure of the Johnson Street shelter, and the criminalization of unhoused Missoulians. Municipal elections are coming up this year and it is critical that we show city council where our priorities lie.
The Sovereign Roses Virtual Alumni Chapter invites The Sovereign Roses Virtual Alumni Chapter invites you to WRAP with the Roses! Learn more about the Western Regional Advocacy Project (WRAP) and a potential Project I.M.P.A.C.T area we’re exploring. WRAP is dedicated to ending homelessness and poverty by uplifting the voices of those directly impacted and advocating for systemic change rooted in justice and equity.
Discover why WEE believe that partnering with WRAP is a powerful step toward making a real, sustainable difference in our communities.

📅 Date: June 30

🕔 Time: 5:52 PM CST

📍 Zoom:
Meeting ID: 98812438845
Code: 567524

🌐 Learn more about WRAP: www.wraphome.org (http://www.wraphome.org/)

Together, we can push for change, challenge injustice, and build impact that lasts. Don’t miss this opportunity to get informed and get involved!

#GammaSigmaSigma #ServiceSorority #SRVAC #WRAP #Projectimpact #GSS #SFE #ServiceFriendshipEquailty
June 28th marks the One Year Anniversary of the Su June 28th marks the One Year Anniversary of the Supreme Court making it illegal to be homeless. Join me in the fight to push back! Helen Cruz
June 28 4-7pm | Echo Park Lake, LA for more inform June 28 4-7pm | Echo Park Lake, LA
for more information: @lacanetwork_official
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10 hours ago
Urgent Help Needed!
Grants Pass is facing over 100 F temperatures for the next 4 days. Our homeless neighbors have no shelter, no shade & no water.
Please help by donating bottled water or funds-well put every drop to good use.
Venmo:@Helen Cruz https://account.venmo.com/u/Helen-Cruz-30
Lets come together for those left in the heat. Every bottle and dollar makes a difference.
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