2014 is the year the USA Criminalizes Homelessness

[Eric Lyon]

It's rapidly been growing in the media since 2013 that law enforcement and the government has started to move towards ordinances and laws that criminalize the homeless. Donations are being blocked, concern citizens are being ordered not to help the homeless, churches food kitchens are being shut down, and homeless are being arrested and/or herded like cattle to new FEMA camps that resemble ww2 Nazi concentration camps.

Watch some of the videos below and be your own judge as to the logic that's going into these new campaigns against the homeless. Just remember, 8 out of every 10 Americans are just 1 or 2 paychecks away from being homeless (living pay check to paycheck) in today's economy. Are you For or Against the criminalization of the homeless?

FEMA Camps that resemble concentration camps pop-up in S. Carolina
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkv0q-VN-to[/youtube]

City shuts down church program that feeds the homeless
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiW1wHMoJ5o[/youtube]

Church group threatened to be arrested for feeding the homeless bagels and coffee (N. Carolina)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkyDOFs2VvY[/youtube]

Homelessness being voted on to be illegal in Miami, Fl. (2013)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBaX-ozbYuI[/youtube]

Homeless camping banned in Denver Colorado (2012)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NqgjWzGD-0[/youtube]

No camping ordnance now enforced for homeless in Olympia Washington
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpyLWaX1VE&list=PLlg47D4E18QoA50PwFp2JpTv1GWobWWTw[/youtube]​

 

[GILSAN]

That's unbelievably shocking. What is the next move by the Government and Law Enforcement.... start building gas chambers to get rid of them? The US that I used to admire is becoming an insensitive and repressive Police State

I've got a much better solution; How about criminalizing and arresting Politicians, Bankers and a bunch of other Legal Crooks instead.

 

[JB Lions]

Oh brother, you just posted a bunch of right wing, conspiracy nonsense:

"FEMA Camps that resemble concentration camps"

Really? So temporary housing for homeless = concentration camps?

There was another thread where you posted some stuff from Infowars. That site is for kids and crazy conspiracy types. Where a school shooting is some false flag or government makes tornadoes, bs like that. A lot of times they'll use bits of information to get their desired outcome (gov is out to get you) and not tell the whole story. Plenty of debunk sites out there that take a lot of this nonsense apart.

And this is the output:

What is the next move by the Government and Law Enforcement.... start building gas chambers to get rid of them? .

Yes Gilsan, any day now, we're going to start gassing the homeless. Crazy.

 

[Eric Lyon]

@JB Lions, be sure to check all the videos. only ones from infowars, a few of the others are reputable news outlets like Fox, NBC, etc.. One can do a google search and find all this stuff... even cnn, bbc, abc, etc. have run stories about some of this stuff. But then, I suppose all media outlets could be conspirators. One never knows now days.

And its not so much that providing housing in FEMA camps is bad, its that they are given the choice of Jail Or a Camp. The rules of these camps is still in question as to whether they allow the homeless back out to roam the city during the day or to take walks outside the fencing. If they don't & they lock them in, then I think it might be closer to a concentration camp, if they do then its not so bad and a great thing. I'll dig around and see if N. & S. Carolina have more official FEMA info on those camps as to the rules of the occupants and then I'll post it here. Just so we can be accurate on it.

Thanks for you input on the topic

Eric Lyon

 

[JB Lions]

Let me give you example of telling the whole story. Something you posted above -

"Church group threatened to be arrested for feeding the homeless bagels and coffee (N. Carolina)"

Never heard of Next News Network, looks like an edited video, again, getting their decided outcome.

There was some news where I live on stuff like that, people getting arrested for feeding the homeless. That was for "The ordinance applies to feedings of more than 25 people." Not going up to somebody homeless and giving somebody some food and drink, it was only for large groups. And if you wanted to do that, you just needed to get a permit. The group knew that, they wanted attention, so they didn't want to go the legal route. You can debate whether that law is wrong or right, but it's the law. If I went up and gave somebody a burger, a drink, few bucks, they're not going to arrest me for that, it's not what that ordinance is for.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...p-feedings-feedings-in-public-parks-ordinance

 

[Eric Lyon]

@JB Lion - Sounds like a silly ordinance to me. But as you say, the laws the law. Choose the homeless you want to help wisely, as you aren't allowed to help more than 25 without paying the city money for a permit to do so. (pay the city before you can help people, kinda sounds silly to me).

Eric Lyon

 

[JB Lions]

That first video with SC, here's the pdf of what they're actually doing - http://www.columbiasc.net/depts/cit...mergency_Homeless_Response_13_August_2013.pdf

It's a problem that looks like people are trying to work on. I'm sure if people had some good/better ideas, they would be open to it. But some right wing/conspiracy sites using this issue to bring traffic to their site (more traffic = more ad revenue) by comparing it to concentration camps is not only ridiculous but insulting to those that have had to actually live in one. In high school, we actually took a field trip to the Dachau concentration camp, heard stories, saw pictures etc. you could just feel something really bad went down there. These are just temporary housing for the homeless, trying to work on solutions in the meantime. Nobody is getting gassed, experimented on etc.

 

[Eric Lyon]

@JB Lion, That PDF councel meeting list was interesting, especially this part::

EMERGENCY HOMELESS RESPONSE
•Emergency Response Proposal
–Additional infrastructure
•
3 transport vans for moving clients to the emergency
shelter and to external service providers and services
–
NO FOOT TRAFFIC. PERIOD.
•
Dedicated telephone number for community and
business response when a person in need is identified.
•
Portable HVAC & Portable kitchen for meal preparation
•
Large exterior tent for service providers and volunteers
•
Officer located at Williams & Laurel Street to monitor
and control foot traffic
•
Foot patrol officers for the Downtown BID as requested
by the CCP and Chamber of Commerce

Take note of the red font... sounds like they don't allow anyone to enter or leave on their own accord. which does kind of sound like a jail or prison instillation doesn't it? More details may help, but that pdf you posted kind of supports the concentration camp conspiracy floating around with the "No foot Traffic" and "Surveillance" aspects.

Eric Lyon

---------- Post added at 10:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 PM ----------

Added note: just read this part too:

Ex-prisoners
delivered to the city limits of Columbia released via intake at the emergency shelter during pre-determined hours'

They are grouping homeless with ex-cons, that's kind of interesting too.

 

[JB Lions]

That reads differently to me, you have to put what came right before it in red as well.

3 transport vans for moving clients to the emergency
shelter and to external service providers and services

NO FOOT TRAFFIC. PERIOD.

Meaning, no walk-ins. I think you probably need to go thru some series of checks, get documented before you can go there.

Foot traffic - "A term used to describe pedestrian visitors to a business or commercial site"

Officer located at Williams & Laurel Street to monitor
and control foot traffic

Security.

I haven't read anything legit where it's some prison or anything like that or that you're not free to leave it you want too.

 

[Paul]

I've had friends who ended up homeless. It's a rough life, but these particular people received--and still receive--a lot of help from the government, especially medical care. They end up getting the same care that I do with expensive health insurance. Obviously it's not the same for everyone, and they don't have it easy by any means, but they do continue to receive a lot of help.

From what I can tell, the hardest part for them at this point is getting a job. Most businesses won't hire a person in that state; it doesn't look good, no matter how nice or qualified they are. It ends up being a one-way road. How are you going to hide your lack of address?

 

[Keral_Patel]

One very important question pops up in my mind and that is "Are homeless people allowed to vote?"

Being poor or homeless is the choice or based on number of choices that they made/make. Just let them be. Who cares. Ignore them if you don't like them. Why interfere

But I guess there are different kind of mindset from country to country.

 

[NameOmnia]

One very important question pops up in my mind and that is "Are homeless people allowed to vote?"

Being poor or homeless is the choice or based on number of choices that they made/make. Just let them be. Who cares. Ignore them if you don't like them. Why interfere

But I guess there are different kind of mindset from country to country.

Sometimes being homeless is not really a choice..

 

[Paul]

Or, sometimes it's the best choice when presented with a difficult decision. Circumstances vary quite widely, and making sweeping assumptions would be naive. Yeah, a lot aren't helped by the government, but a lot don't want help, or don't try, or are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plenty do get help, and plenty recover. It's too broad a crowd to generalize.

 

[Keral_Patel]

Sometimes being homeless is not really a choice..

Yeah but in most of the cases it is based on number of choices that they have made in past. All small actions leads to something else and that is how the whole life is made up.

Not saying that for all the homeless people but as I said earlier depends on the mindframe of the people. From where I come there are many more homeless people but we don't tell them what they need to do and where they need to go etc. Sometimes they don't like being told what they have to do with their lives.

I have lots of other comments that I would like to make with my personal experiences with those people but then this thread will turn into some kind of debate about if they are innocent or not.

 

[verbster]

Is this an early April fool's day joke or something?

 

[Eric Lyon]

Is this an early April fool's day joke or something?

Not sure yet, if it helps, here's some funny pictures to help offset some of the seriousness.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Here's an older june 2011 video I just came across today where Orlando Fl. police arrest people for feeding children and families in a public park without a permit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDD6FtNMpNw[/youtube]

---------- Post added at 07:30 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:04 PM ----------

One more. This ones Jan. 2014 .. Police pick-up 2 homeless guys, drive them outside city limits & drop them off telling them not to come back. ACLU files complaint with justice department.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWeAAjjpnaU[/youtube]

 

[JB Lions]

Rightfully so. You just can't set up food service anywhere you want too. And they did it more to get arrested/attention. It's like those people who purposely go to monuments or restricted areas and film it.

Keep in mind this:

"They note that "at least 10 organizations regularly serve food to the hungry downtown" without defying the law.)"

That group could do so as well, they just don't want to follow the law like the other organizations feeding the homeless.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Rightfully so. You just can't set up food service anywhere you want too. And they did it more to get arrested/attention. It's like those people who purposely go to monuments or restricted areas and film it.

You're right on that one. I think they were just trying to prove a point and pushing the limits. Trying to show that feeding the homeless & hungry isn't allowed without paying the city some cash first to get a permit that allows you to help others that are hungry. The message behind it is "If you don't pay us, you can't help others", even in a public park where picnics happen all the time. But then I guess it goes back to that 25 person limit that you mentioned before which is common for such ordinances. I wonder what they would do if you have a family reunion in a park and BBQ. There's many families that can easily exceed 25 in a reunion. I* wonder if that same ordnance would apply or if it would be ok because they are family and not strangers..

 

[JB Lions]

You're right on that one. I think they were just trying to prove a point and pushing the limits. Trying to show that feeding the homeless & hungry isn't allowed without paying the city some cash first to get a permit that allows you to help others that are hungry. The message behind it is "If you don't pay us, you can't help others", even in a public park where picnics happen all the time. But then I guess it goes back to that 25 person limit that you mentioned before which is common for such ordinances. I wonder what they would do if you have a family reunion in a park and BBQ. There's many families that can easily exceed 25 in a reunion. I* wonder if that same ordnance would apply or if it would be ok because they are family and not strangers..

If you want a family reunion in the park with that many people, have to go thru the proper channels -

"Interested in renting a park for a birthday, family reunion, wedding or a special event? The City of Orlando has many options from outdoor pavilions and picnic tables to air conditioned indoor facilities. Just follow these 3 easy steps:"

http://www.cityoforlando.net/fpr/html/ParksRentals.asp

Had to do the same thing when I was living in TN with my ex-gf's family reunion. Rented a section out, outside tables, indoor space etc.

And that group above, they can feed the homeless like all the other organizations do, just have to go thru the proper channels as well.