A standoff in Tacoma, Washington, between a homeless advocacy group and the local police force has ended in deportation.
Fife police in hazmat Move into the Travelodge motel on Wednesday to clean up more than 40 homeless residents staying there without paying, CBS partner KIRO 7 News reported.
Homeless lawyers with Tacoma Housing Now brought residents there from two Tacoma camps. They booked 16 rooms and paid for a one-night stay on Christmas Eve, but had no plans to leave – or pay any more bills.
Monday night, when Tacoma Housing Now volunteers brought food and supplies for the homeless residents, they told KIRO 7 that many of them were at risk of dying in the freezing weather when brought in from bridges and camps.
Homeless and chronically ill
“A lot of these people here have chronic illness,” said a member of Tacoma Housing Now, who asked to be identified as “Arrow.” “They have everything from cancer to serious infections, seizures, all kinds of chronic diseases.”
But motel manager Shawn Randhawa, Fife Police and the City Manager told Fife Police, is that the motel is a small family business with 10 employees, which had already been devastated by the pandemic. When told that the group refused to pay for their rooms, he told the city manager that he may have to pull the plug on the whole business.
Fife police say it took them several days to implement a response plan. When officers showed up on Wednesday, so did protesters on both sides.
“I’m here to support the police,” said Darren Coperson, who lives in the area. “It’s madness,” he said.
“Housing is a human right,” said Courtney N. Love, another resident of Fife, who supported the housing attorneys’ case.
“Dignified and noble” purpose
The Fife police chief said in a statement while the group’s case was “dignified and noble” that Tacoma Housing Now victimized the motel owner, risked bankruptcy and eventually committed a crime. Those involved can be prosecuted.
The motel manager told KIRO 7 on Tuesday that he was about to close the doors and fire his 10 employees.
“Right now they robbed me,” Randhawa said. “These people who book for one night are cheating on me and now trying to tell me I’m doing something (wrong)?”
Fife city manager Hyun Kim said the city partnered with Tacoma Rescue Mission to provide shelter for every resident. The mission said only one person accepted. Mission staff helped return other occupants to camps in Tacoma.
A lawyer at Tacoma Housing Now, who simply wanted to be identified as Sam, said people turned down shelter offers because “the conditions you must meet for those options do not meet the needs of anyone who is here.”
Unfortunate situation
He said another offer from LiHi of 10 tiny houses for couples and groups wouldn’t work either.
“They wanted to split pods and units of people,” Sam said. “No one here is really being offered a real living situation,” he said.
Kim said two people in the group – a couple – are sick with COVID-19 and are going to an emergency shelter for COVID-19 in Tacoma.
People say it’s a shame that the whole situation has been resolved in this mess.
“Fife has problems”
“Fife has problems. I don’t think this will help, I really don’t think this will help,” said Frazer Loveman, who works in the area.
Police say everyone left voluntarily and didn’t cause any problems while there. After the police left, KIRO 7 witnessed someone breaking the glass of a fire extinguisher box and taking the extinguisher.
It is unclear if and when the property owner will be paid.
Kim says it is now a civil case between the attorneys and the property owner.
‘I feel sorry for the owners. It’s not a pleasant situation, is it, ”Loveman said.
Fife police also said in the statement, “ Procedures have now been put in place to ensure that if something like this happened in the future, this would be answered promptly and that certain actions reaffirm the position that Fife is not a city that is welcoming. for criminals or those engaged in criminal activity, regardless of how noble or important the underlying cause is. “