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A federal judge on Thursday rejected a demand to stop Seattle from cleaning up the last remains of a homeless settlement that has been pushed back by activists.
US District Judge Richard Jones held a two-hour hearing on Wednesday in which he called the winter weather a “horrible time” to begin to displace residents of Cal Anderson Park, according to the Seattle Times. The city had planned to clean up the park on Wednesday but shut down after a lawsuit was filed to stop the action.
Some homeless people in the park left anyway. The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department has given residents of the park two days’ notice to remove their belongings from the area.
Lawyers for the city said park residents have been hostile to park visitors, police and park workers, citing security concerns. In September, private security guards employed by a company hired by the city to enforce park opening hours were threatened and chased away.
Lawyers for Ada Yeager, who filed a lawsuit and lived in the park, argued that any sweeping violated her constitutional rights and could result in damage or the seizure of personal property by authorities.
The lawyer said the park was a focal point for Black Lives Matter protesters and forcing campers to leave would violate their free speech protections. The park became the focus of protest efforts over the summer when several blocks were boarded up. Capitol Hill Occupied Protest – or CHOP – has been established.
In a statement to Fox News, Durkan’s office said she believed the city shared values with each other and that the homeless should be in a safe space like shelters and hotels, not parks “with pipes. illegal and dangerous like fires and barricades or people threatening the city. workers doing routine maintenance. ”
“The City has developed a plan to remove the sprawling barricades and prepare for intensive multi-day maintenance, cleaning up trash, debris and needles, and repairing City facilities. Outreach officers hired by the City continued to provide shelters and services, ”the statement said. “The City’s goal remains the same: to bring homeless people indoors to safer spaces, including hotels, and to partner with the community to reopen the park.
Yeager’s attorney did not respond to a Fox News request for comment.
Residents and business owners in the area have complained about the encampment after shootings, drug use and other quality of life issues.
“The situation in the park is getting worse and more dangerous by the day,” read a letter from business owners, residents and community groups in Durkan, according to Capitol Hill Seattle. “The park has now become a safety issue for both people in the park and the neighboring community. Violence, drugs, vandalism and other activities harmful to Cal Anderson negatively impact members of our community to the point where any effort to activate the park cannot have a lasting impact. “
Meanwhile, a group of activists took inspiration from their Portland counterparts by taking control of an abandoned house amid a battle for the park. In solidarity with the homeless, squatters have taken over a yellow house on Denny Way, which is at the northeast end of the park.
“Denny’s Occupation” protesters said their actions responded to the proposal to sweep the city and to demands from businesses to move the homeless. In a statement released Thursday, they demanded an end to all homeless sweeps and housing for those living in camps for at least the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.
“You cannot sweep away the human beings our capitalist society deems ‘undesirable’,” the group said in a statement.
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Neighbors complained about the occupation, according to KOMO-TV, but officers told them they needed permission from the developer who owned the house to evict the squatters. They told the station the house had been empty for months.
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