WASHINGTON—Building off President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order targeting crime and disorder on American streets, Senator Tom Cotton is introducing legislation aimed at cleaning up the nation&#8217;s capital.
The Daily Wire can first report that the Arkansas Republican will introduce the Prohibiting Encampments on Public Grounds Act on Tuesday. The bill would make it unlawful to set up, maintain, or establish camps or temporary abodes on public property in Washington, D.C.
“Our nation’s capital should be a point of pride, not littered with homeless encampments that endanger visitors like the thousands of Arkansans who visit each year,&#8221; Cotton told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This bill would clean up D.C.’s public property and allow law enforcement officials to maintain order in the streets of our nation’s capital.&#8221; 
Those who violate the terms of the bill would be fined $500, imprisoned for up to 30 days, or both.
<div id="attachment_953593" style="width: 838px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-tom-cottons-new-bill-supercharges-trumps-efforts-to-make-d-c-safe-again/president-trump-signs-executive-order-urging-cities-to-remove-homeless-off-streets" rel="attachment wp-att-953593"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-953593" class="wp-image-953593 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-828x576.jpg" alt="" width="828" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-828x576.jpg 828w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-300x209.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494-768x534.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/GettyImages-2227000494.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 828px) 100vw, 828px" /></a>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; JULY 25: A person sleeps in Freedom Plaza on July 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)</div>
The president&#8217;s executive order, signed July 24, directs the Attorney General to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that are block state and local governments from committing &#8220;individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s order was aimed at &#8220;making America safe again,&#8221; one of the president&#8217;s major campaign promises. It also requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to work with other administration officials to prioritize grants for both states and municipalities that enforce bans on &#8220;open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.&#8221;
The executive order focuses attention on providing both shelter and mental health resources to the homeless, and, in addition to allowing programs to exclusively house women and children — as opposed to men who identify as transgender women — it blocks sex offenders who are receiving homelessness assistance from being housed with children.
The Trump administration has argued that shifting the homeless into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment is the best way to restore public order, pointing to the highest number ever recorded of individuals living on American streets on a single night during the last year of the Biden administration: 274,224.
Most of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have mental health disorders, or both, according to a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/ending-crime-and-disorder-on-americas-streets/">fact sheet</a> from the White House, which argues that federal and state governments have spent billions seeking to address homelessness without addressing the root causes.
Asked last week about homeless individuals sleeping outside the gates of the White House, the president responded: &#8220;I think it&#8217;s terrible and we&#8217;ll have them removed immediately.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;ve gotta get the mayor to run this city properly,&#8221; he told reporters.

Donald Trump Meets With Republican Senators At The NRSC

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Cotton’s New Bill Supercharges Trump’s Efforts To Make D.C. Safe Again

Donald Trump

Homeless

Tom Cotton

Washington

A New Jersey Republican mayor ripped Jon Bon Jovi, saying the singer turned his town into “ground zero for homelessness.”
Toms River Township Mayor Dan Rodrick said a restaurant run by Bon Jovi’s nonprofit JBJ Soul Foundation, is causing more trouble than good, especially after it added a temporary pop-up location at the Ocean County Library, per <a href="https://www.nj.com/ocean/2025/04/nj-mayor-blasts-bon-jovis-soul-kitchen-for-homeless-gathering-near-library.html">NJ.com</a>.
He said the restaurant opening has led to homeless individuals being bused into the area, a move which the mayor claims is causing problems for the local community.
Per the outlet, the temporary restaurant is not a traditional soup kitchen or pay-what-you-can establishment, but instead, they serve three-course meals and allow diners to pay it forward and cover a future meal for anyone who can’t afford it. Patrons who can’t pay are offered the opportunity to volunteer in the community kitchen in exchange for food. 
The pop-up restaurant at the library opened in February and is slated to be shut down in May after its permit was extended from the initial closure date of March 31. The other location is permanent. 
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don&#8217;t want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem. They have the resources, and bussing people in from all over to Toms River is not a safe situation,&#8221; Rodrick told Fox News Digital in an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jon-bon-jovi-slammed-turning-nj-town-ground-zero-homeless">interview</a>.
The mayor also noted that many of the homeless people encountered are “from outside the town, outside the county and, in some cases, outside the state of New Jersey.”
Rodrick said he hasn’t spoken to Bon Jovi directly but is frustrated that the restaurant opened in the area, which already has been struggling with its homeless population. Per NJ.com, the municipality does not have a licensed shelter, and last year residents shot down a proposal to build a 17-bed facility on the property of a local church.
&#8220;[Bon Jovi’s] already operating … something in the Silverton section of town. But it was like a restaurant where people go, and they pay for their meal, and they feel good that the money&#8217;s going to be used for something. But this pop-up thing at the library was primarily geared toward making the library, the public library, ground zero for homelessness,&#8221; Rodrick told Fox News.
The mayor also said that the issue began when the Ocean County Board decided to open a warming center, which led to nonprofits &#8220;bussing people into town.&#8221;
&#8220;We wound up with dozens and dozens of people being dropped off downtown every single day at the library no less, where a mom should feel comfortable walking into the library with her daughter and get a book. You shouldn&#8217;t have to walk through gangs of two dozen intoxicated or mentally ill homeless individuals, and that&#8217;s the real issue here,&#8221; he said, noting that there have been several police and EMS calls from the library in recent weeks.
Rodrick also addressed a potential financial incentive for the nonprofits. “These people are being dropped by in our community by agencies pretending to be homeless advocates who get paid by the head to import homeless people into our town from all over the state and the East Coast,” he said, per <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/us-news/bon-jovi-feuds-with-jersey-shore-mayor-over-eatery-for-the-poor/">The New York Post</a>. “These agencies are making millions of dollars importing homeless. Their plan is not about compassion; it’s about people wanting to profit off the homeless issue.”
In a <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/05/us-news/bon-jovi-feuds-with-jersey-shore-mayor-over-eatery-for-the-poor/">statement</a> to the New York Post, Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who both run the nonprofit, said, &#8220;The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions. We are not here to just move people around or force them into the shadows. Our Foundation has built nearly a thousand units of affordable and supportive housing.”
&#8220;Through our JBJ Soul Kitchen, we connect people to resources and services. Whether they need employment, mental health support, or housing, we try to remove the barriers that are keeping them from thriving, not just surviving,” it says.

Jon Bon Jovi

NJ GOP Mayor Says Jon Bon Jovi Turned His Town Into ‘Ground Zero’ For Homeless

NJ Mayor Says Jon Bon Jovi Turned His Town Into 'Ground Zero' For Homeless

Celebrities

Homelessness

New Jersey

U.S.

United States

Dawn Robinson, best known for her role in the popular 1990s R&amp;B group En Vogue, recently revealed on YouTube that she is homeless and has been living in her car for three years.
The 58-year-old said in the video clip shared on Tuesday, “You guys, for the past three years, I have been living in my car.” She sighed with apparent relief, adding, “I said it, oh my gosh, it’s out.”
She mentioned that some people had told her not to tell the truth about her living situation. Robinson said they said, “You shouldn’t talk about it because you’re a celebrity and what if they judge you?”
“I’m like ok and what if?” the singer continued. “What if they judge me? So what? We’re all judged. Life is life.”
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Robinson went on to explain how it all happened. She told fans she’d been living with her parents in Las Vegas in 2020 but then took her manager’s advice to move to Los Angeles. She stayed with him briefly before moving into a hotel for eight months. 
The En Vogue singer said her manager was the reason she never made the move from the hotel to an apartment, claiming he was “playing games” and coming up with excuses for why the potential rentals she found wouldn’t work out.
“Sometimes &#8230; people want to trap you and keep you in a situation where you’re vulnerable and depending on them,” she said in the YouTube video. “So I got out of there.”
That’s when Robinson started looking into adopting a “car life” instead of renting a traditional apartment. “I felt free,” she said. “I felt like I was on a camping trip. It just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
The singer stressed that her purpose for sharing the video wasn’t to earn pity from fans.
“It’s not ‘Woe is me,'&#8221; Robinson said. “I’m learning about who I am. I’m learning myself as a person, as a woman.&#8221;
&#8220;I miss my family. I miss everybody I was connected to,” she added. “But I needed to do this alone. &#8230; I needed to do this for me.” 
The En Vogue singer said she’s happy with her choices. “I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished out here,” she told viewers.
“Be spontaneous,” Robinson concluded. “Do the scary. F*** fear.”

Dawn Robinson

En Vogue Singer Says She’s Been Living In Her Car For Three Years

En Vogue Singer Admits She's Been Living In Her Car For Three Years

Entertainment

singer

A Louisiana judge paused further efforts by state officials to clear a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/homelessness">homeless</a> encampment in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-orleans">New Orleans</a> ahead of a series of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taylor-swift">Taylor Swift</a> sold-out concerts over the weekend.
The decision came after city officials began relocating about 75 individuals who were living in tents under an overpass close to Caesars Superdome, where Swift performed. The city expected the shows to lure 150,000 people to the area, which prompted the relocation, per <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/judge-blocks-sweeps-homeless-camp-new-orleans-taylor-swift_n_671e1714e4b03aa5c1cd6761">the Associated Press</a>. Louisiana Republican Governor Jeff Landry ordered the relocation.
Judge Lori Jupiter issued a temporary restraining order on Friday, mandating that officials refrain from relocating individuals without legal proceedings. Her ruling said that residents at the encampment must be informed they can leave freely and prevented state law enforcement from discarding personal belongings without judicial oversight. This order remains in effect until November 4.
The decision came after a lawsuit filed by residents of the encampment argued that state police violated their constitutional rights. They said they had personal items seized and destroyed and were forcibly moved from where they were living. The suit claimed that enforcing officers said, “The governor wants you to move because of the Taylor Swift concert.”
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
Governor Landry’s office said the sweep was part of an ongoing campaign to address homelessness and safety in preparation for Swift&#8217;s tour stop and the upcoming Super Bowl in February, which will take place in New Orleans in February 2025. 
The governor’s communications director, Kate Kelly, said, “As we prepare for the city to host Taylor Swift and Super Bowl LIX, we are committed to ensuring New Orleans puts its best foot forward when on the world stage.”
However, advocacy groups argue that the sweep disrupted ongoing efforts to connect the resident homeless population with housing resources and social services.
One nonprofit head who works with the homeless complained about the sweeps. 
“Some people were frightened and left, and that’s not good,” Martha Kegel, executive director of Unity of Greater New Orleans, said. “Because then all the work that we did to assess them and document their disabilities and, you know, work with them on their housing plan has now been wasted.”

Taylor Swift

Judge Blocks Homeless Camp Sweeps Ahead Of Taylor Swift Concerts

Judge Blocks Homeless Camp Sweeps Ahead Of Taylor Swift Concerts In New Orleans

Courts

Louisiana

New Orleans

When Vice President Kamala Harris announced Tim Walz as her running mate, nearly 9 in 10 Americans said they had no opinion of the largely unknown Minnesota Governor.
Within hours of the selection, the legacy media began the task of explaining to the American people how the man they’d scarcely mentioned on their airwaves was actually one of the country’s preeminent Democratic leaders. Viewers were bombarded with breathless coverage of “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/22/arts/television/tim-walz-dnc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coach” Walz’s</a> “<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/tim-walz-has-bde-no-not-that-one-the-psychology-behind-big-dad-energy-125956374.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Big Dad Energy</a>.” There were also glowing reports of the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/02/harris-walz-minnesota-policy-democrats-election.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">progressive utopia</a> he’d built for Minnesotans.
Wanting to see the results of Walz’s time in office for myself, I traveled to Minnesota to hear from the people who have lived under his leadership for the past six years.
The first person I spoke with was Liz Collin, a journalist who’s spent decades covering the state. As she walked us through the mostly empty downtown, with boarded up buildings and open drug use, Collin explained how the city has changed under Walz’s tenure, while taking exception to the media portrayal of the governor.
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“He’s being sold as this moderate ‘aw-shucks’ guy who will give us some dad jokes. But there’s never been a more radical governor — ever — in Minnesota history,” Collin said.
According to Collin, the turning point for the city — and state — came during the Black Lives Matter riots that engulfed Minneapolis and St. Paul following the death of George Floyd.
Those riots, which ultimately damaged or destroyed more than 1,500 properties and caused $500 million in damage to the Twin Cities, went on for more than three days and nights before Governor Walz finally deployed the National Guard.
In the aftermath, Collin says Walz’s anti-police rhetoric fueled a mass exodus from the state’s police force, most notably in Minneapolis, where hundreds of officers resigned or retired. “You have a police force in Minneapolis that’s down about 40% from where it was at the beginning of May of 2020.”
Now, Collin says, the few remaining officers in the city have been hamstrung with new “progressive” policies curtailing their ability to stop crime. Among other things, police in the city have been restricted from pursuing suspects of non-violent crimes, while another “use of force” policy required officers to contact a supervisor before placing a suspect in handcuffs.
“It’s almost as if police officers have become firefighters. Sort of waiting to put out the fire — whereas before there was proactive policing…and there was a respect and a bit of fear for the cops, but that dynamic has certainly changed.”
From 2019 to 2023, the homicide rate in Minneapolis increased by 50%, while the statewide rate jumped 54%.
According to Minneapolis businessman Greg Urban, those rising crime rates — and the lack of a visible police presence — have had devastating consequences for local businesses.
“Big cities have crime, even the best ones. But you also have the perception of crime and the perception of safety, and when you walk out and see police there is a perception of safety,” Urban told me. “In a large entertainment district, which this once was here in Minneapolis, you need that perception…there’s not that sense of vibrancy that there once was.”
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Urban, who once owned the popular Greg’s Saloon in the heart of the city, was forced to close his business due to rising crime and oppressive lockdown policies enacted by Governor Walz during the COVID pandemic.
Speaking outside of the now vacant building where his business once operated, Urban recounted fines he was forced to pay for trying to keep his saloon open, and lamented the “COVID snitch line” Walz opened, which allowed Minnesotans to report neighbors and local businesses violating stay at home orders.
“Tim Walz set up a snitch line, to where if you saw a COVID violation you could call in, he would dispatch his COVID police that he had set up. … There’s instances where Tim Walz put people in jail for as much as 90 days for violating one of his orders. He wasn’t messing around with this, he wanted this state locked down so tight, he would use his jails to do that.”
“This part of the city used to be packed,” Urban said, as we walked past another empty building, this one with the words “Black Lives Matter” spray painted on weathered plywood covering broken windows.
Today, rather than customers waiting outside of Greg’s Saloon, the only Minnesotans to be seen on the block are a pair of homeless men, one on his hands and knees digging for cigarette butts in a crack in the sidewalk.
An hour later, I’m three miles south of downtown, standing in a homeless encampment that’s taken over a vacant lot in a middle class residential neighborhood.
Walking up the street, I see three disheveled men slumped against a neighbor’s fence, looking like they might collapse at any moment, as others around them openly pass around needles and lighters.
The night before, neighbors told me paramedics had been on the scene to treat an overdose victim — a now common occurrence in the neighborhood. Days after my visit, I learned a 33-year-old man was gunned down during a fight in the encampment.
I meet Arne — who asked that I not use his last name — the man who owns the once vacant, now full lot, and has been trying unsuccessfully to build a new home there.
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Arne says he’s called the police repeatedly asking them to clear out the encampment, but has been told “there’s not much they can do.” Today, he’s come to the property armed with “No Trespassing” signs, hoping it will give law enforcement more power to remove the unwelcome residents.
According to Arne, since Governor Walz took office, police in the city have been rendered helpless in removing squatters and clearing out homeless encampments from private property like his.
As we speak, a half dozen masked individuals emerge from a car parked across the street. They make their way towards where we’re standing and form a line inches away from us, glaring at our crew.
“They’re trying to intimidate us, and that’s what they do,” Arne says. “You don’t get to just intimidate people like that. I talked to a lot of people and they were all too scared to come on camera. I’m not scared. I’m not going to be silenced … I’m speaking up for everyone else who is too scared to speak up.”
Next, I drive a few blocks down the street to the spot of George Floyd’s death — passing the burnt-out shell of what was once the Minneapolis 3rd Precinct Police Headquarters. Four years after the BLM riots that ravaged the city, the four-story building sits empty and boarded up, with bullet holes still visible in its exterior.
Arriving at George Floyd Square, I’m greeted by the charred remains of a gas station that once stood across the street from the convenience store where Floyd died.
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“Power To The People” and “Black Power” inscriptions emblazon the walls of the numerous vacant buildings surrounding the memorial to Floyd, which spans half a block.
Thousands of candles, flowers, and other mementos have been arranged on the sidewalk by activists making the pilgrimage to Floyd Square. Every few minutes, a new group of mourners arrives — some with tears in their eyes — pausing for a moment of silence, snapping photos, and lighting candles.
My final stop takes me to ‘Little Mogadishu,’ a portion of East Minneapolis home to roughly 50,000 Somali immigrants – one of the largest concentrations of Somalis anywhere in the Western world.
Little Mogadishu has long been plagued with elevated crime rates and poverty, but in recent years, has become home to one of the largest fraud operations in American history.
During the COVID pandemic, a number of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis operated Feeding Our Future, a fraudulent nonprofit that received more than $250 million from the Minnesota Department of Education’s administration of Federal Child Nutrition Programs.
Rather than providing meals for children, however, the non-profit redirected millions in taxpayer funds to dozens of individuals throughout the city. That money was used to purchase cars and homes – and according to David Gaither, a longtime Minnesota businessman and state legislator, fund terrorism in Somalia.
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“The largest single funder of Al-Shabab, the terrorist organization in Somalia, are the Minnesota taxpayers,” Gaither told me.
“The money that is taken in that fraud doesn’t stay here. Millions of dollars per month in cash are sent out the Minneapolis airport…It goes East, and it ends up in people’s hands that will do mischief and bad things to the United States.”
According to Gaither, Governor Walz was warned of fraud in the system, but failed to investigate the phony non-profit before hundreds of millions of dollars had been disbursed.
Now, Walz is being subpoenaed by the House Education and Workforce Committee for records related to the scheme.
As I prepare to leave Minneapolis, I talk with Scott, a lifelong Minnesotan with a message to Americans still curious about Walz.
“He gives the impression that he’s this moderate folksy leader. He is extreme in almost every respect. He fooled a lot of Minnesotans in the last two elections, we can’t let him fool the rest of the country.”

Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz Prepares To Depart For Philadelphia

A Day In Tim Walz’s Minnesota

2024 Election

COVID

George Floyd

Kamala Harris

Minnesota

Tim Walz

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/san-francisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco</a> has wasted no time in cracking down on homeless encampments after a Supreme Court decision in June gave cities more authority to deal with the issue.
City authorities have been working quickly to clear tent cities &#8212; but keeping public areas clear has proven to be no simple task.
Cleanup crews removed several tent cities last week, but tents popped up again in those areas within days. Some of the new campers <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/tents-return-san-francisco-streets-cleared-homeless-sweep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">could</a> be seen using drugs, a persistent problem in the city.
The City by the Bay also continues to bus homeless people to other California counties and even other states, including Texas.
Over the last two years, the city has sent at least 857 homeless people to other states and counties, The San Francisco Standard <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/06/journey-home-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
At least a few homeless people have been sent to Oregon, Nevada, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, and Indiana, according to data from the city&#8217;s new program, Journey Home, which was launched in September.
The data is unclear for the city&#8217;s older Homeward Bound program, which has relocated hundreds of people in recent years.
<a href="http://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.amiracist.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1722714742764000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1XzmEsRwzti1RFNuISwYgd">WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘AM I RACIST?’ — A MATT WALSH COMEDY ON DEI</a>
Mayor London Breed issued an executive directive on Thursday ordering city employees to point homeless people in the direction of these relocation programs before offering shelter and other services.
Breed said San Francisco is no longer able to support the influx of homeless people moving to the city and taking advantage of free services.
The Supreme Court ruled last month that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places even if there is not enough shelter space to accommodate them, saying such laws do not violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The original case involved the Oregon town of Grants Pass, which tried to fine people $295 for sleeping outside when tents began crowding the town’s public parks.
Before the court’s decision, homeless encampments continued to spread in California, Oregon, and Washington while city officials remained limited in what they could do to address the problem, especially since homeless people often refuse shelter beds.
San Francisco has struggled for years with rampant homelessness, crime, and open-air drug use driven by fentanyl, all of which have driven people and businesses out of downtown. About 38,000 people <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are homeless</a> in the Bay Area on a given night. That’s up 35% since 2019.
California <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-issues-executive-order-to-remove-homeless-encampments-across-california">has</a> the highest homeless population in the country by far. About 180,000 people were homeless last year across the state, and about 123,000 are unsheltered on a given night, according to the latest homeless count.
Homeless encampments near freeways, under overpasses, and near exit ramps have also become so common that California’s transportation department now has its own protocol and workers for clearing encampments.

Newsom Orders Crackdown On California Homeless Encampments

San Francisco Aggressively Clearing Tent Cities, Busing Homeless Out

California

General

San Francisco

Imagine being a homeless guy in the state of California. For most of the year, you&#8217;re untouchable. You can sleep completely naked right outside of an art gallery, and if the gallery owner sprays you with a hose to get you to move, he&#8217;s the one who gets <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/art-galley-owner-collier-gwin-arrest-warrant-san-francisco-homeless-watered-down-sprayed-by-water/12717643/#:~:text=SAN%20FRANCISCO%20%2D%2D%20Collier%20Gwin,a%20misdemeanor%20battery%20arrest%20warrant." target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> — as happened recently. The district attorney will issue statements about how &#8220;unhoused folks&#8221; have the right to sleep wherever they want, wearing — or not wearing — whatever clothes they want.
On top of that, the state <a href="https://sf.curbed.com/2018/5/9/17336090/san-francisco-needles-syringes-exchange-numbers-sf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provides</a> millions of free syringes to help facilitate your drug habit — <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/26/politics/san-francisco-drug-injection-sites/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complete</a> with &#8220;safe injection sites&#8221; that function like open-air drug markets. Plus the weather&#8217;s always nice. So generally speaking, as a homeless person in the Golden State, you have it pretty good.
But every once in a while, on a dime, California&#8217;s government completely changes its approach. It&#8217;s quite a role reversal. The politicians suddenly become the schizophrenic ones. They decide, without any warning, that all homeless encampments have to be dismantled. They hose down the sidewalks themselves. They clear the place out like it&#8217;s Tiananmen Square. And they issue statements about the importance of orderly streets and ending the scourge of lewd behavior in public libraries.
You might remember that this is what happened late last year, when the leader of China&#8217;s communist party, Xi Jinping, visited the Bay Area. Ahead of the visit, Gavin Newsom <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/newsom-defends-san-francisco-homeless-sweep-before-international-summit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> a crackdown on homeless encampments and drug markets. And he admitted he was only doing it because Xi Jingping was in town: &#8220;Anytime you put on an event — by definition — you know you have people over at your house, you’re gonna clean up the house.&#8221; That&#8217;s what he said. 
Effectively, Gavin Newsom was admitting that California&#8217;s decline is a choice. The only reason they have so many homeless people — more than any other state by far — is that they tolerate it. In an instant, Gavin Newsom can make it all go away. Someone might have answered Newsom by pointing out that, yes, you want to clean up your house for guests but you also want to keep it orderly and clean for the people who actually live there every day.
But Xi Jinping eventually left the Bay Area, so the homeless people filed back in. They started doing meth and defecating on the sidewalks again, as if they&#8217;d never been interrupted. And that continued until yesterday, when once again, out of the blue, Gavin Newsom decided to put an end to it. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Newsom Removes Homeless Camps" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EHR3gjmT1QY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In that news report, you heard that the reason that California is suddenly able to clear all these encampments is that the Supreme Court recently allowed them to do it. That&#8217;s a reference to the Grants Pass case, which was decided a few weeks ago. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that it&#8217;s not &#8220;cruel and unusual punishment&#8221; to prevent homeless people from camping out on public property, even if there&#8217;s no shelter they can go to.
Gavin Newsom himself made the same argument in a video posted to social media. He said that he&#8217;s been doing everything he possibly can to clear out the homeless, and now that the Supreme Court has given him the green-light, he can finally do it:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Newsom Blames Others" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kV1gsYsLk2g?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Before I go any further, it&#8217;s important to give credit where it&#8217;s due. Solely on the merits, Gavin Newsom&#8217;s order is obviously the right thing to do. The homeless have no right to make our communities into unlivable garbage dumps. As unpopular as it is to say it, for the most part, the homeless are not mere victims of circumstance. These are not always but very often aggressive and dangerous vagrants who actively make our communities unsafe. There&#8217;s been a huge excess of sympathy for them and not nearly enough anger at what they’re doing to our cities.
It was a good idea for Newsom&#8217;s administration to file a <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/03/04/governor-newsom-statement-on-amicus-brief-filed-with-the-united-states-supreme-court-on-homeless-encampments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brief</a> at the Supreme Court during the Grants Pass case, on the side of the city against the homeless encampments. And it&#8217;s good that Newsom is sticking with that position now.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1410-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
At the same time, what Newsom is doing is disingenuous. And we know that because his excuse — blaming the &#8220;courts&#8221; for hamstringing him until now — doesn&#8217;t make any sense. First of all, he was able to clean out the homeless encampments just a few months ago, for China&#8217;s president. No court stopped that. Additionally, for well over a decade, Gavin Newsom has been vowing to end homelessness in California. And courts in California didn&#8217;t say it was &#8220;cruel and unusual punishment&#8221; to evict homeless people from their encampments until 2018. 
So what was the excuse pre-2018? Newsom&#8217;s going to need one, because as far back as 2008, he was saying he would end chronic homelessness in San Francisco by building more housing. He said that was the solution to chronic homelessness — not clearing encampments. And he said it again and again. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 Newsom History On Homelessness" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nt1fO-KkrEs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
Newsom said &#8220;shelters solve sleep&#8221; repeatedly, for several years. I&#8217;ve talked about this before on this show, but it bears repeating because it doesn&#8217;t make any sense whatsoever. People in shelters still need to sleep. Shelters do not &#8220;Solve sleep.&#8221; But apparently Newsom thought it was a compelling catchphrase. 
He started saying it in 2008 and he was saying it as late as 2014. It was the line that Newsom used to justify spending tens of billions of dollars to &#8220;fix chronic homelessness.&#8221; And his strategy didn&#8217;t work, as this chart demonstrates:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
California homeless population 2011 &#8211; 2022
The state is spending over 14 billion dollars to fight homelessness.
If we round the homeless population up to an even 200,000, that amounts to $70,000 per person. <a href="https://t.co/V3cBvAc0tm">pic.twitter.com/V3cBvAc0tm</a>
&mdash; The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole84) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRabbitHole84/status/1662125298157228037?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Homelessness in California has only increased in the past decade. The courts in California didn&#8217;t cause this — at least they didn’t cause it on their own. It&#8217;s a product of a few things — mainly the state&#8217;s refusal to prosecute and imprison criminals, its encouragement of drug use, and the glut of NGOs and law firms that work full-time to keep these people on the streets.
It&#8217;s true that the Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling makes it easier to clear homeless encampments. But that ruling is not why Newsom is suddenly reversing course.
He&#8217;s reversing course because Democrats are now realizing they have to pretend to care about the basic security and safety of American communities if they want to win in November. It’s pretty telling that they only care about crime and homelessness during elections and if foreign dignitaries are visiting.
I&#8217;m reminded of some of my teachers in public school growing up. They were awful, incompetent and angry all the time — but they suddenly became chipper and on the ball when the parents were visiting. It&#8217;s a similar phenomenon here. Last November, Newsom sprang into action because he got a call from Xi Jinping. Maybe this time he got a call from Kamala Harris.
That would make sense, because right on cue, Harris is also acting more like a centrist Republican than the most liberal senator in Congress, which is what she really is. She&#8217;s even disavowing rioters. The woman who raised bail money for BLM thugs is now claiming to be appalled by vandalism and political violence.
After her silence on Wednesday, Harris posted <a href="https://x.com/VP/status/1816490945501708660">this statement</a> on social media on Thursday:
<blockquote>Yesterday, at Union Station, we saw despicable acts by unpatriotic protesters and dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric. I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas. &#8230; Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent and we must not tolerate it in our nation. I condemn the burning of the American flag. The flag is a symbol of our highest ideals as a nation and represents the promise of America.</blockquote>
Obviously everything she says there is true. But like Newsom, she&#8217;s saying it for transparent and cynical reasons — which will immediately become null and void the moment the election is over. You&#8217;ll notice that nowhere in her statement does Harris mention the police officer who was violently dragged on the ground at Union Station yesterday. She also doesn&#8217;t demand any kind of accountability. She doesn&#8217;t call for an FBI dragnet like the one after January 6 — which she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YnYHO4_98A" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compared</a> to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.
That&#8217;s notable because, in this case, Harris is effectively the sitting president. She has the authority to order the DOJ to create a &#8220;sedition and conspiracy task force,&#8221; like the one the Biden administration oversaw after January 6. Harris could ensure that every single one of the vandals and rioters yesterday is hauled to prison, just like the grandmothers from January 6. She could ensure consequences for the rioters who raised a foreign flag a half a mile from the nation&#8217;s capital. That would ensure nothing like this ever happens again. But she&#8217;s not doing any of that because she understands that those rioters are her voters. They are her base. She can wag her finger at them, but she&#8217;ll never touch them.
We&#8217;re seeing this kind of faux moderation all over the place. It&#8217;s the same reason Democrats are pretending Harris was never named the &#8220;border czar.&#8221; They know she was put in charge of the border for the sole purpose of making sure it stayed open. The corporate press, including the entirety of Left-wing media, reported on that at the time. But they know that open borders don&#8217;t play well in the general election. So now they&#8217;re pretending she had nothing to do with the border.
You’d think if the Left thought their position was tenable in election, they’d play this differently. Harris would come out and say “Hell yeah, I was in charge of the border and I opened it for everyone. America is an idea, after all. And everyone has a right to participate in this idea!” She’s not saying that. Instead she’s disavowing the whole mess, and the media is helping her.
Along the same lines, they&#8217;re reacting with outrage that conservatives are calling Kamala Harris a DEI hire. They&#8217;re claiming this is a Right-wing conspiracy theory to make people afraid of the DEI bogeyman. But they know that Joe Biden explicitly limited his VP search to women. And they know that, just a few months ago, Biden publicly called Harris a DEI hire. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Why did Joe Biden refer to Kamala Harris as a DEI hire?
&quot;To me, the values of diversity, equality, inclusion are literally the core strengths of America. That&#39;s why I&#39;m proud to have the most diverse administration in history that taps into the full talents of our country. It… <a href="https://t.co/rpaWILblpI">pic.twitter.com/rpaWILblpI</a>
&mdash; Owen Gregorian (@OwenGregorian) <a href="https://twitter.com/OwenGregorian/status/1816442039044636816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;To me, the values of diversity, equality, inclusion are literally the core strengths of America. It starts at the top with the Vice President.&#8221; Now Democrats are pretending Joe Biden never said this. They&#8217;re pretending they never demanded that Joe Biden pick a black woman during the summer of George Floyd.
There are obvious signs of weakness here that Republicans can exploit. Democrats understand that their policies simply aren&#8217;t popular among normal people. They understand no one wants rampant homelessness, or DEI hiring, or unchecked illegal migration, or rioters who wave terrorist flags while assaulting police officers. They understand that leftist policies actively make people’s lives worse. They actively destroy the well being of millions of people. That&#8217;s why, with just a few months to go until the election, Democrats are pretending to disavow all of those things. They do this all the time before elections, and normally it works.
This time, though, they&#8217;re saddled with the single least authentic politician imaginable. Kamala Harris, of all people, is trying to convince Americans that she&#8217;s tough on Left-wing rioters and illegal immigration. She&#8217;s using Gavin Newsom&#8217;s schtick with a fraction of his charisma. And the reason Democrats are panicking right now, as they look at the polls, is that they realize most people see right through her.

California Gov. Newsom To Order State Officials To Begin Dismantling Homeless Encampments

Cleaning Out The Homeless Encampments Just In Time For The Election

Democrats

Gavin Newsom

Joe Biden

Leftists

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Readers Pass

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered homeless encampment sweeps across the state after a Supreme Court decision last month gave cities more authority to deal with the issue.
Newsom&#8217;s <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/07/25/governor-newsom-orders-state-agencies-to-address-encampments-in-their-communities-with-urgency-and-dignity/">executive order</a> advises county and city officials to clean up thousands of homeless encampments, although the order does not force officials to do cleanups, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/us/newsom-homeless-california.html#:~:text=The%20directive%20from%20Gov.%20Gavin,authority%20to%20remove%20homeless%20campers." target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets,” Newsom <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/25/us/newsom-homeless-california.html#:~:text=The%20directive%20from%20Gov.%20Gavin,authority%20to%20remove%20homeless%20campers." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
“There are simply no more excuses,” he said. “It’s time for everyone to do their part.”
The Supreme Court ruled last month that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places even if there is not enough shelter space to accommodate them, saying such laws do not violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
The original case involved the Oregon town of Grants Pass, which tried to fine people $295 for sleeping outside when tents began crowding the town’s public parks.
Before the court&#8217;s decision, homeless encampments continued to spread in California, Oregon, and Washington while city officials remained limited in what they could do to address the problem, especially since homeless people often refuse shelter beds.
Newsom&#8217;s order reportedly requires state agencies to work with local governments to house homeless people and provide them with services, not simply move them along. Newsom&#8217;s administration has poured about $24 billion into the homeless issue since 2019.
After the Supreme Court&#8217;s decision, Newsom <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/06/28/governor-newsom-statement-on-supreme-courts-homeless-encampments-decision/">said</a> the ruling &#8220;provides state and local officials the definitive authority to implement and enforce policies to clear unsafe encampments from our streets.&#8221;
&#8220;This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities,&#8221; the governor said at the time, adding that California remains &#8220;committed to respecting the dignity and fundamental human needs of all people.&#8221;
Homelessness has plagued California for years. The state has the highest homeless population in the country by far. About 180,000 people were homeless last year across the state, and about 123,000 are unsheltered on a given night, according to the latest homeless count.
Last week, San Francisco Democratic Mayor London Breed announced the city plans to be “very aggressive and assertive in moving encampments.”
The city has struggled for years with rampant homelessness, crime, and open-air drug use driven by fentanyl, all of which have driven people and businesses out of downtown. About 38,000 people <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are homeless</a> in the Bay Area on a given night. That’s up 35% since 2019.
Homeless encampments near freeways, under overpasses, and near exit ramps have also become so common that California&#8217;s transportation department now has its own protocol and workers for clearing encampments.

California Governor Gavin Newsom Campaigns Against The Recall Attempt In Bay Area

Newsom Issues Executive Order To Remove Homeless Encampments Across California

Drugs

Fentanyl

Politics

SCOTUS

Supreme Court

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/san-francisco" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Francisco</a> is planning to ramp up sweeps of homeless encampments after a pivotal Supreme Court decision last week gave cities more authority to deal with the issue.
The court ruled Friday that cities can enforce bans on homeless people sleeping outside in public places even if there is not enough shelter space, deciding that such laws do not violate the Constitution&#8217;s prohibit on cruel and unusual punishment.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that thanks to the Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling, the city will better be able to clean up the tents that line the city&#8217;s streets.
“With this opportunity, we’ll be able to do more to clean and clear our streets — especially for those who are refusing shelter and services,” Breed said during a press conference at City Hall. “This is very helpful to us as a city.”
“My hope is that we can clear them all,” she said when <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20240630182830/https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/san-francisco-encampment-case-19539764.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> by the San Francisco Chronicle how many tents might be cleared as a result of the court&#8217;s decision.
The city will continue to offer “shelter and support” to homeless people, but law enforcement could be more involved in clearing encampments, Breed said.
The 6-3 Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> overturned a ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that for the last six years had prohibited cities from enforcing anti-camping ordinances whenever the homeless population outnumbered shelter beds.
The original case involved the Oregon town of Grants Pass, which tried to fine people $295 for sleeping outside when tents began crowding the town&#8217;s public parks.
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Homelessness in the San Francisco area has only gotten worse since before the pandemic. About 38,000 people <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rising-crime-homelessness-leave-residents-of-san-francisco-and-oakland-on-edge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are homeless</a> in the Bay Area on a given night. That’s up 35% since 2019. More than 7,000 people are homeless in San Francisco itself.
San Francisco also has a deadly drug crisis driven by fentanyl, and the city saw record fatal overdoses last year. A total of 752 people died from drug overdoses in San Francisco between January and November, more deaths than in any other year, preliminary data from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office <a href="https://sfstandard.com/2024/01/05/san-francisco-drug-users-tenderloin-posters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a>.
Harrowing scenes of homeless people engaging in open-air drug use and living in filth on city streets continue to come out of the neighborhoods most in need of help.
Overall crime was down last year, but certain types of crime were up, including car thefts, San Francisco police data <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/stay-safe/crime-data/crime-dashboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show</a>. Compared to 2019 before the pandemic, however, many types of crime are still elevated, including murders, robberies, burglary, and arson.

Homelessness and Fentanyl Crisis in San Francisco

San Francisco Planning To Escalate Homeless Sweeps After Supreme Court Decision

Crime

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/supreme-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Supreme Court</a> ruled 6-3 on Friday that an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oregon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oregon</a> city’s law restricting camping on public property does not violate the Constitution’s prohibition against enacting cruel and unusual punishments under the Eighth Amendment. 
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the courts did not have the right to strike down laws enacted by the city of Grants Pass in response to the homelessness crisis. Gorsuch was joined by Justices Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett, with Clarence Thomas writing a concurring opinion. 
“The Constitution’s Eighth Amendment serves many important functions, but it does not authorize federal judges to wrest those rights and responsibilities from the American people and in their place dictate this Nation’s homelessness policy,” Gorsuch wrote. 
Previously, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Grants Pass could not enforce its restrictions on sleeping on public property if the number of publicly available beds for the homeless was less than the number of homeless estimated in the area. The city’s laws, including fines of $295 for sleeping on public property, were challenged under the Eighth Amendment on behalf of a group of homeless people in the area. 
“Yes, people will disagree over which policy responses are best; they may experiment with one set of approaches only to find later another set works better; they may find certain responses more appropriate for some communities than others,” Gorsuch wrote. “But in our democracy, that is their right. 
“Nor can a handful of federal judges begin to ‘match’ the collective wisdom the American people possess in deciding ‘how best to handle’ a pressing social question like homelessness,” he added. 
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan all dissented. 
“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime. For some people, sleeping outside is their only option,” Sotomayor wrote. “For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
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Grants Pass Mayor Sara Bristol <a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-homeless-camping-bans-506ac68dc069e3bf456c10fcedfa6bee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Associated Press she was grateful for the court’s decision. 
“This lawsuit was about whether cities have a right to enforce camping restrictions in public spaces, and I’m relieved that Grants Pass will be able to reclaim our city parks for recreation,” she said. “Homelessness is a complex issue, and our community has been trying to find solutions.”
Cities across the country have grappled with how to handle increasing homelessness in recent years, with an estimated 582,000 homeless in 2022.

Homeless in Skid Row

SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Oregon City’s Ban On Homeless Encampments

Oregon

Taxpayers are funding a new high-rise building in Los Angeles where homeless people will enjoy skyline views, a cafe, a gym, and an art studio, not to mention the free rent.
The fancy new building is 19 stories high and has 278 units, each costing about $600,000. The total cost was $165 million, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-05/in-skid-row-a-19-story-residential-tower-for-homeless-people-will-offer-gym-cafe-art-studio">according</a> to the Los Angeles Times. It is the first of three new high-rise buildings that will soon house homeless people.
The building, reportedly the biggest permanent supportive housing project in the city, is set to open this month. It will take in homeless residents from Skid Row below, the infamous Los Angeles neighborhood where homeless people have thronged for decades despite many efforts to clean up the area.
The tower includes a gym, an art room, a soundproofed music room, a computer room with a library, a TV lounge, six common balconies, four of which have dog runs, a courtyard, and a cafe that will host movie nights.
Each apartment has its own TV as well.
The project is funded by the city&#8217;s supportive housing loan program, Proposition HHH, which was approved by city voters in 2016, as well as state housing funds and $56 million in state tax credits.
The man <a href="https://www.weingart.org/our-team" target="_blank" rel="noopener">behind</a> the new buildings is Kevin Murray, a former California state senator who is president and chief executive of the Weingart Center, a nonprofit that assists homeless people.
“We’re trying to make our little corner of the world look and feel a little better,” Murray told the Times.
The three new homeless apartment buildings will be situated around the nonprofit&#8217;s headquarters. The second building will have 302 units, and the third will have 104 units. Altogether, about 700 homeless people will occupy the three buildings.
The first building&#8217;s commercial kitchen will also serve the 600-bed homeless shelter next door.
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“We will offer people a meal plan, frankly, because we have a kitchen,” Murray said.
The idea behind the new buildings is to isolate homeless residents from Skid Row&#8217;s bad influences on the street. Outside, tents line the sidewalks, and rampant drug addiction and crime plague the neighborhood.
The project is already facing criticism.
Estela Lopez, executive director of the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, a nonprofit that advocates for the property and business owners, employees, and residents of downtown Los Angeles, said she thinks concentrating extreme poverty is bad policy, although she added that the new building is a &#8220;campus of hope for those souls who will reside there.&#8221;

US-HOMELESSNESS

Skid Row’s New Taxpayer-Funded Homeless High-Rise Will Have Gym, Cafe, Art Studio

Skid Row's New Taxpayer-Funded Homeless High-Rise Will Have Gym, Cafe, Art Studio

Los Angeles

Oakland, a blue city in California, took down a traffic light at a busy intersection after thieves kept swiping copper wire, and residents say the nearby homeless encampment is to blame.
City workers replaced the traffic lights with four-way stop signs at the intersection located at East 12th Street and 16th Avenue.
The move came after people repeatedly stole copper wire and tampered with the electrical box at the intersection to allegedly steal power.
The city tried putting heavy cement blocks on top of the electrical boxes, but people simply dragged them out of the way, a city spokesman <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/stop-signs-replace-some-oakland-traffic-lights-to-deter-copper-theft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. The stop signs are temporary, according to the city, but it does not have a timeline for reinstalling the traffic lights.
Neighbors expressed their frustration, and some blamed the homeless encampment around the intersection. The encampment spans about three blocks on 12th Street from 17th and 14th Avenues.
&#8220;If you really want to fix the stop sign, I think you really have to clean up this homeless encampment,&#8221; Tam Le, owner of Le&#8217;s Auto Body &amp; Engine Repair, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/stop-signs-replace-some-oakland-traffic-lights-to-deter-copper-theft/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CBS San Francisco. He has been running his auto shop on a corner of the intersection for more than 25 years.
&#8220;It&#8217;s just telling us that the city is giving up on us,&#8221; Le said.
The traffic lights had not worked properly for months before they were taken down, residents said.
&#8220;The city did try to fix the traffic light at least a few times. But once they fixed it, normally within a week or so, it will go out again,&#8221; Le said.
Violent crime is up overall in Oakland compared to this time last year, <a href="https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1509820938476" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to the latest police data. Robberies, in particular, have spiked, topping 1,000 incidents already this year.
Robberies involving a gun are up 21% to 409 incidents, and carjackings are up 4% to 166 incidents. Aggravated assaults are down but remain high at more than 900 incidents. Homicides are also down, but 23 people have already been killed this year.
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Oakland residents have been sounding off about rising crime for at least a year.
Last May, about 500 angry residents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hundreds-of-angry-oakland-residents-show-up-at-town-hall-on-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> up to a town hall meeting on crime to demand answers from city leaders on Oakland becoming more dangerous, especially violent incidents perpetrated on women and the elderly.
In July, the Oakland chapter of the NAACP <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/oakland-naacp-blasts-city-leaders-over-crime-calls-for-state-of-emergency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blasted</a> city leaders and called for a state of emergency over the city’s crime “crisis.” The black civil rights organization, which <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/lets-stop-pretending-naacp-is-more-than-weaponized-left-wing-propaganda-machine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tends</a> to lean Left, blamed the “defund the police” movement specifically as part of the reason for the crime spike.
In nearby San Francisco, the worsening trifecta of crime, homelessness, and public drug use has caused many businesses to abandon the city’s once bustling downtown area. This has left many commercial buildings empty and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amid-homeless-and-drug-crises-san-franciscos-budget-deficit-could-reach-1-4-billion-officials-warn#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut into</a> the city’s tax revenue, exacerbating the city’s growing budget deficit, which officials warned could reach nearly $1.4 billion by 2027.

a city crossing with a semaphore, red light in semaphore

Blue City Took Down Traffic Light At Busy Intersection After Homeless Stole Copper Wire, Residents Say

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