AlbatrossDec 21, 2022
In #Minneapolis today, four days before Christmas, the temperature is -5F/-21C and a blizzard is expected. So today is the day when Mayor Frey and the Metro Transit Police decided to destroy an under-bridge homeless encampment and confiscate their tents and propane tanks.
All homeless resources in the city are full.
No mainstream news covered this story.
Pictures by @SWVoicesMPLS on birdsite
#homelessness #JacobFrey #ACAB #MetroTransitPolice #MerryChristmas #ThatWasSarcasm #journalism
Show threadbenjamin melançonDec 22, 2022

@Albatross I believe this was another MNDOT operation, which Frey has been denying coordination with— but also today the Quarry encampment, the only sizeable encampment on city land not already destroyed by Frey's many goons under his direct control, has been served eviction notice for *the 28th*.

I believe they are trying to make us think the cruelty is the point, to distract from the fact that neoliberal capitalism may indeed crash down if people can camp outside in the winter for free.

Show threadbenjamin melançonDec 22, 2022
Seriously though this is as @Katyrex said on twitter when posting this, directly causing deaths by exposure. Call the lines yourself. Find out how many beds there are. Temporary shelters are never a replacement for the stability of a permanent camp (let alone, y'know, actual housing) but there aren't even spaces available right as the cold is downright deadly.
Show threadbenjamin melançonDec 22, 2022
Apparently this needs to be said for some people, but if sub-zero temperatures and 50mph winds do not drive people to use the resources allegedly provided the next step is not military destruction of outside survival shelters people have built for themselves it is to provide some acceptable resources or grant people permanent title to the land so they can build what is evidently superior to government offerings in peace and safety.
Show threadbenjamin melançonDec 22, 2022
A solid refresher on why the temporary shelters prominently promoted as resources when encampments are destroyed (to confuse liberals into giving petty cruel reactionary tyrants the benefit of the doubt) are a sham, shared in a mutual aid chat:

1) there are not enough beds, I estimate that for every shelter bed there are 12 unhoused people, so calling is kind of useless bc 2) if you call and they have no beds they just hang up, there are no other options
Show threadbenjamin melançonDec 22, 2022
3) shelters have rampant theft, violence, and assault due to underfunded, understaffing, and the orgs and workers just not caring 4) if you're not sober you are excluded from most shelters 5) you can't bring possessions in with you so going to a shelter to sleep means you could return to your outdoor spot tomorrow and everything is gone 6) regular shelters don't allow pets, children, or keep family together, so you would have to split up, which fairly most people don't want to do
Show threadAmazingGracie
@mlncn I worked as an addiction outreach worker for years. A man I worked with had been living in a remote area for years. He trusted me eventually but not enough to leave his tent. His file was given to someone else who declared within 2 weeks he was housed in a shelter. But at 3 weeks he stepped in front of a train. People who work with homeless have to be educated.
Jan 3, 2023 at 6:23amWeb
Show threadbenjamin melançonJan 3, 2023

@graciep oof, that's tragic.

Even taking physical coercion and threats off the table (the tiny ask we are largely fighting for in Minneapolis!), even with money and significant resources that are currently lacking, the work of helping people needs to be undertaken with the greatest of care.

Thank you for being one who cares and for sharing.

Show threadAmazingGracieJan 3, 2023
@mlncn It's good to connect with people who care about homeless and understand how to work with people. The agencies I worked for always had end of year stats for number of people admitted to treatment, number housed. It was shameful.