Raids, Harassment at Occupy Tent Cities Start Broader Conversation About Criminalizing Homelessness
Xander is always reaching out to people, so it wasn't surprising to see him talking to police officers outside the Bank of America building on one of the first nights those sidewalks were occupied. In planning for the start of Occupy San Francisco (then known as Occupy Financial District San Francisco), organizers wondered whether the city's new "sit/lie" ordinance would be used against them and if people would be arrested. The sit/lie ordinance in San Francisco makes it illegal to sit or lie on the sidewalks between 7 AM and 11 PM.
Raids, Harassment at Occupy Tent Cities Start Broader Conversation About Criminalizing Homelessness
By Sarah Page
Truthout
August 17, 2012
Xander is always reaching out to people, so it wasn't surprising to see him talking to police officers outside the Bank of America building on one of the first nights those sidewalks were occupied. In planning for the start of Occupy San Francisco (then known as Occupy Financial District San Francisco), organizers wondered whether the city's new "sit/lie" ordinance would be used against them and if people would be arrested. The sit/lie ordinance in San Francisco makes it illegal to sit or lie on the sidewalks between 7 AM and 11 PM.
Xander indicated that an officer assured him there would not be any arrests under the ordinance and that sit/lie was only intended to be used against homeless people, not protesters. Occupiers were relieved not to be under threat of arrest, but they did not feel it was right for homelessness to be criminalized.
At its peak size, the Occupy San Francisco camp had 300 full-time campers and its kitchen was serving over 1,200 meals a day to the camp and others in the community. Volunteers helped to provide mental and physical health services. What had begun on September 17, 2011, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and a global rising up of people against oppressive financial conditions was not tolerable for those with a stake in the status quo. Several businesses around the camp complained to the city, and one business, Boston Properties, even threatened a lawsuit. The Justin Herman Plaza camp was raided and disbanded by the city on December 7, 2011, but a small group has been camping again in front of the Federal Reserve since February 28, 2012.
