Denver Cops Break Up Homeless Camp in the Middle of a Snowstorm

[KamaAina]

http://www.itakelibertywithmycoffee.com/2015/12/4581/

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.

Unicorn Riot was at the scene of the newly fashioned tent city and documented Denver Police threatening everyone with arrest if they did not dismantle their camp.

Police arrived around 6am 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 livestream the encounter:

Denver Police’s response on twitter was to tweet about their homeless outreach and goal of getting everyone out of the cold.

[Fumesucker]

1. To protect and serve the 1%

[dembotoz]

2. wtf is right

[Journeyman]

3. "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges. . .

"The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread."

~Anatole France (1894)

[SoLeftIAmRight]

20. Anatole France

one of the very best

His short essay on judges is wonderful

[Journeyman]

24. I'm not familiar with that . . .

Do you have a title? Or anything more to go on. I searched the web and came up empty.

[SoLeftIAmRight]

25. Upright Judges

This is not the translation that I have somewhere

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Crainquebille,_Putois,_Riquet_and_other_profitable_tales/Upright_Judges

It starts with these words -

UPRIGHT judges I have indeed seen," said Jean Marteau. "It was in a picture."

only in a picture - that is his opening salvo

[Journeyman]

28. Thanks. I saw the "Crainquebille" collection available on Amazon, didn't see the essay itself. . .

I'll check that out.

[JunkYardDogg]

4. They are called "Reagan Villes"

n/t

[Jim Beard]

22. I never did see homeless people until Reagans Reign of Terror

[saltpoint]

5. While the law grants the cops the

authority to do this, no truly ethical construct I know encourages that they act on that authority.

Provide shelter for those who need it.

[mythology]

6. Especially during a snow storm

You would think the cops would have other things to do like deal with car accidents and helping with other issues caused by snow like downed power lines or people needing to get medical attention.

[saltpoint]

7. Yes. Community resources could have

been coordinated to try and arrange alternative shelter.

Absent such a plan, their temporary shelter should have been let be. Blankets and food might have been dispatched to the site.

What happened instead was a dismissive, inhumane act and an abuse of power.

[valerief]

8. Compassionate conservatism in action. nt

[Aristus]

9. I used to have such respect for cops. Not since I started working with the homeless.

Periodically, Tacoma PD would go through the parks, woods, and other areas where the homeless camp out due to lack of room in the shelters. They'd confiscate tents and other camping gear, and often rob my patients of their medications. This was a story I heard frequently.

I don't prescribe narcotics, benzodiazipines, or other medications with street value. So when a patient told me a cop took his blood pressure or diabetes medication, I believed him.

Cops are supposed to defend the defenseless, not prey upon them...

[virgogal]

32. Politicians make the laws. Police are hired to enforce the law.

The cops breaking up the homeless camps are just working stiffs obeying orders from the top.

The politicians and police big shots NEVER come out and do the dirty work.

Put the blame where it belongs----and vote out the lawmakers.

[Aristus]

34. I'm pretty sure confiscating medication from homeless patients isn't written into any laws.

It's power-mad jerks preying on the helpless and defenseless because they get a kick out of it, and because they can get away with it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. Cruel

[kath]

11. Fuck. The. Police.

It becomes more and more clear that they exist to protect and serve the 1%.

[ljm2002]

12. Bloody hell!

When are the decent cops going to refuse this sort of thing? Especially during a snowstorm? WTF?? "Hey, these people are miserable; let's go make their lives even worse! Yeah, that's the ticket! And when I go home to my wife and kids, and we put our presents around the tree, we'll congratulate ourselves on what a deserving Christian family we are!!"

I hope at least some of those cops have a change of heart and realize how deeply, deeply immoral this is -- and I blame their superiors more than them, except that they did carry it out. Reminds me of the Buffy St. Marie song "Universal Soldier" -- He's the universal soldier, and he really is to blame, his orders come from far away no more...

[bluedigger]

13. Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?

[jalan48]

14. Any mention of these types of events in last night's debate?

[KamaAina]

16. Of course. The ABC moderator led off with that!

[jalan48]

17. These camps don't make Wall st. look too good. Better to keep them on the down low.

[Dont call me Shirley]

15. What fucking assholes. Merry fucking Christmas, Grinches! Time to EVICT reaganomics and its

adherents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nay]

18. Now THERE'S the Christmas spirit for you!

[hobbit709]

19. I wonder what church the clown that gave the order goes to.

[lpbk2713]

21. At 6AM it had to have been done for harrassment.

There could be no other motivation to deploy the required manpower at that time of day other than to harrass the people involved.

[F4lconF16]

23. Fuck the police.

When you choose to become a member of the blue shirts, you choose to participate in this shit. You are an oppressor. You serve the privileged. You enforce the will of a brutal system. And you do it in a blatantly unethical, immoral, discriminatory manner.

Fuck the police.

Fuck the law.

Be a decent fucking human being instead.

[joeybee12]

26. Still peeved about the Oakland game, apparently

You would think they would at least wait to avoid the bad publicity...idiots.

[KamaAina]

27. Thread win!

[joeybee12]

30. What's the prize???!!

[KamaAina]

31. One cat fix.

Redeemable with the nearest kitteh.

[joeybee12]

33. I've got three ready to go in January...

Now I need to win two more fixes.

[Taitertots]

29. No one on DPD stood up to stop this.

Apparently there are no good cops in Denver.