The gathering followed a confrontation late Wednesday night, when authorities showed up to install the fencing. Several hundred people, including advocates and homeless residents, faced off against a line of police wearing riot helmets. Protesters carried signs that said “dignity, not displacement” and “we need long term solutions.”
Antonia Ramirez, who said she has been homeless for 20 years, vowed to stay at her camp site at Echo Park Lake and risk being arrested. Ramirez, who said she has lived at parks in Los Angeles and in neighboring Orange County, said she moved in days earlier.Her fellow tent-dwelling residents argued the growing encampment had provided a secure place for homeless people during the public health crisis.
“The city's strategy is to displace these people into dark corners, into hiding, under overpasses. As long as they're not visible in a public place like a park,” Martinez said. A January 2020 count by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority reported that there were more than 66,400 homeless people living in Los Angeles County — by far the largest single concentration in the state.
I wonder if the civil servant glitterati than run California ever wonder why they run a globally ranked city in terms of homelessness. They certainly don't act like it.