Boise, Idaho. Community Stands In Solidarity With Encampment Demanding End To Police Harassment And Access To Housing

Anonymous Contributor
Originally Post: https://itsgoingdown.org/boise-encampment-report/

Report on ongoing protest encampment at the Idaho state capitol in Boise demanding an end to police harassment of the houseless and access to housing and beyond.

With housing costs skyrocketing, temperatures plummeting, and cops relentlessly harassing and ticketing people experiencing houselessness, folks sleeping on the streets in so-called Boise, Idaho have found themselves scrambling for survival. Within the last month, as temperatures dropped as low as 7 degrees overnight, Boise Mutual Aid (BMA) joined the effort to assist folks with finding a building for people to sleep in overnight. A business downtown offered their building for a week (the coldest week of the year, so far) and community came together to make the space an autonomous community overnight warming space. Decisions were made as a collective and folks forged community agreements to keep each other safe and taken care of. Boise Mutual Aid facilitated asking for, receiving, and distributing donations which poured in nonstop. It was, as one would imagine, not easy. But the first community agreements folks decided on was to utilize mediation and conflict resolution instead of relying on the cops during times of conflict. Many conflicts arose but the community stayed true to their commitment to keep each other safe from the police, the cops were never called, and conflicts were handled and resolved within the community. Then the week was up and folks were back where they started, scrambling for safety in the cold of the streets.