An impasse in Tacoma, Washington, between a homeless advocacy group and the local police, ended in eviction.
Fife Police in dangerous facts Move to a Travelodge motel on Wednesday to clean up more than 40 homeless residents who are there without paying, said CBS affiliate KIRO 7 News.
Proponents of homeless people from Tacoma Housing Now have brought residents from two camps in Tacoma. They booked 16 rooms and paid for one night’s stay on Christmas Eve, but had no plans to leave – or pay more bills.
On Monday night, while volunteers from Tacoma Housing Now brought food and supplies to homeless residents, they told KIRO 7 that many of them were at risk of dying from the freezing weather when they were brought in from bridges and camps.
Homeless and with chronic diseases
“Many of these people here have chronic illnesses,” said a member of Tacoma Housing Now, who asked to be identified as “Arrow”. “They have everything from cancer to attacks of serious infections, all kinds of chronic diseases.”
But the motel manager, Shawn Randhawa, told Fife Police and the city manager that the motel is a small family business with 10 employees, which has already been devastated by the pandemic. When told that the group refused to pay for the rooms, he told the city administrator that he may have to shut down the entire business.
Fife police said it took several days to implement a response plan. When the police showed up on Wednesday, so did the protesters on both sides.
“I’m here to support the police,” said Darren Coperson, who lives in the area. “It’s crazy,” he said.
“Housing is a human right,” said Courtney N. Love, another resident of Fife, who supported the cause of housing advocates.
“Dignified and noble” cause
The chief of police in Fife said in a statement that although the group’s cause was “dignified and noble”, Tacoma Housing Now victimized the motel owner, put him at risk of bankruptcy and ultimately committed a crime . Those involved may face criminal-level criminal charges.
The motel manager told KIRO 7 on Tuesday that he was about to close completely and fire his 10 employees.
“Right now, they robbed me,” said Randhawa. “Do these people who schedule a night fool me and are now trying to tell me that I’m doing something (wrong)?”
Fife city manager Hyun Kim said the city worked with the Tacoma Rescue Mission to provide shelter beds for all occupants. The mission said that only one person accepted. Mission officials helped to bring some other occupants back to the camps in Tacoma.
An advocate for Tacoma Housing Now, who just wanted to be identified as Sam, said people declined offers of shelter because “the conditions you must meet for these options do not meet the needs of anyone here”.
Unhappy situation
He said that LiHi’s other offer of 10 small houses for couples and groups would also not work.
“They wanted to share pods and units of people,” said Sam. “No one here is really having a real life situation,” he said.
Kim said that two people in the group – a couple – are sick with COVID-19 and will go to a COVID-19 emergency shelter in Tacoma.
People say it’s a shame that the whole situation has dissolved into this mess.
“Fife has problems”
“Fife is in trouble. I don’t think this is helping, I really don’t think it is helping,” said Frazer Loveman, who works in the field.
The police say that everyone left voluntarily and did not cause any problems while they were there. After the police left, KIRO 7 witnessed someone break the glass on a fire extinguisher box and take the extinguisher.
It is unclear if and when the owner of the property will be paid.
Kim says it is now a civil issue between supporters and the owner of the property.
“I’m sorry for the owners. It’s not a pleasant situation to be in,” said Loveman.
The Fife police also said in the statement: “Procedures have already been put in place to ensure that if something like this happens in the future, it would be found with quick and certain actions reaffirming the position that Fife is not a city that is welcoming criminals or people involved in criminal activities, no matter how noble or important the underlying cause is. “