The night before Thanksgiving, November 27th 2013, it was about 30 degrees. Staying warm outside in that kind of weather is not easy for anyone, and much less so for people with no money for warm gear or place to store their gear even if they did have it. Thanksgiving morning 17 people were arrested at gunpoint for trying to stay warm inside an abandoned building.
Around 20 people who have found themselves homeless in Denver found that sleeping inside one of the many empty, unused buildings in Denver was a safer and warmer option than sleeping outside somewhere or in a shelter. For Karen and Tony, a couple in their 50s, if they want to stay in a shelter they are forced to split up and sleep separately. Their friend Rabbit cannot stay in the shelters because he has a dog, Gentleman Jim, who he looks after and who looks after him.
So for Karen, Tony, Rabbit, and many others, sleeping in an abandoned building that has four walls and a roof is a way to stay warm.
A handful of people had been sleeping in this particular abandoned building for a few nights. There was a side door that was not locked through which they entered. They did not break any doors or windows to get inside. In fact, they seem to have been very careful to keep the place as safe and clean as possible.
Three nights before Thanksgiving, the first night Karen and Tony had slept there, police showed up and came into the building with flashlights asking for a specific woman. When the police found that the woman they were looking for was not there, Karen said, “We asked the police if we had to leave, and they said 'no, you guys are ok.'”
But three days later when police returned to the building, they treated the people sleeping there much differently! They broke down a door and came in with guns pulled. The assortment of people, all waking up to a raid with police and guns, scrambled to get up from their sleeping bags. When Tony tried to reach for a personal item on the floor, police screamed at him, “If you reach for anything I'll shoot.” They proceeded to ask for everyone's ID (no warrants?) and to handcuff them. After arresting Rabbit, in what he describes as a “rough” way, he explained to the police that if they arrested them all, his dog would have no one to take care of it. So one young woman was set free to stay back and take care of the dog, Gentlemen Jim. The rest were taken to jail.
This was the first time Karen had ever been arrested for anything. She explains she was “shocked at how brutally the cops treated us.” They wouldn’t let her go back into the house to get her medication. They shoved her around. In jail “I asked myself, ‘What am I doing?’ I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. They treat us homeless like we have a disease.”
They spent Thanksgiving day and night in city jail. The next morning they went to court and pleaded guilty, and the judge released them all with “time served.” (If they hadn't pled guilty they would have spent days in jail if they couldn't post bail.) When they all were arrested the police had not let them take any of their belongings with them. These belongings included Karen's medications. When they asked to get their belongings back from the building, they were told they needed to get a “civil assist” (an officer to go with them) to do so. (Did they ever get these things back?)
This Thanksgiving did not give Karen, or Tony, or Rabbit, or any of the others arrested for seeking a safer, warmer place to sleep, much to be thankful for.
Terese
Around 20 people who have found themselves homeless in Denver found that sleeping inside one of the many empty, unused buildings in Denver was a safer and warmer option than sleeping outside somewhere or in a shelter. For Karen and Tony, a couple in their 50s, if they want to stay in a shelter they are forced to split up and sleep separately. Their friend Rabbit cannot stay in the shelters because he has a dog, Gentleman Jim, who he looks after and who looks after him.
So for Karen, Tony, Rabbit, and many others, sleeping in an abandoned building that has four walls and a roof is a way to stay warm.
A handful of people had been sleeping in this particular abandoned building for a few nights. There was a side door that was not locked through which they entered. They did not break any doors or windows to get inside. In fact, they seem to have been very careful to keep the place as safe and clean as possible.
Three nights before Thanksgiving, the first night Karen and Tony had slept there, police showed up and came into the building with flashlights asking for a specific woman. When the police found that the woman they were looking for was not there, Karen said, “We asked the police if we had to leave, and they said 'no, you guys are ok.'”
But three days later when police returned to the building, they treated the people sleeping there much differently! They broke down a door and came in with guns pulled. The assortment of people, all waking up to a raid with police and guns, scrambled to get up from their sleeping bags. When Tony tried to reach for a personal item on the floor, police screamed at him, “If you reach for anything I'll shoot.” They proceeded to ask for everyone's ID (no warrants?) and to handcuff them. After arresting Rabbit, in what he describes as a “rough” way, he explained to the police that if they arrested them all, his dog would have no one to take care of it. So one young woman was set free to stay back and take care of the dog, Gentlemen Jim. The rest were taken to jail.
This was the first time Karen had ever been arrested for anything. She explains she was “shocked at how brutally the cops treated us.” They wouldn’t let her go back into the house to get her medication. They shoved her around. In jail “I asked myself, ‘What am I doing?’ I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. They treat us homeless like we have a disease.”
They spent Thanksgiving day and night in city jail. The next morning they went to court and pleaded guilty, and the judge released them all with “time served.” (If they hadn't pled guilty they would have spent days in jail if they couldn't post bail.) When they all were arrested the police had not let them take any of their belongings with them. These belongings included Karen's medications. When they asked to get their belongings back from the building, they were told they needed to get a “civil assist” (an officer to go with them) to do so. (Did they ever get these things back?)
This Thanksgiving did not give Karen, or Tony, or Rabbit, or any of the others arrested for seeking a safer, warmer place to sleep, much to be thankful for.
Terese
RSS Feed
