Steve Singleton, who took a leadership role in the original 125-person Camp Remembrance at this site, is especially incensed. He feels homeless people were kicked off a perfectly good lot for no reason, and insists he won’t leave the site again without being hauled away. “Why should we leave here? They tricked us into leaving in the first place, and now they’re trying to do it again. I keep asking the police and everyone in the government who will listen, where can we go? Most of us can’t go into shelters, so there’s no place for us,” he said.
By the time Santa Rosa city police arrived on Monday afternoon, the camp held about 25 people. The police told campers that anyone remaining on Tuesday will be arrested, and warned that any property on the lot will be destroyed. Overnight, campers pulled fences around themselves for protection and organized. But on Tuesday morning, the police seemed to want to talk it over, sending in only two officers initially, and promising a return later with more. Homeless Action! says they plan to support the campers during the sweep with filming, legal observation, and negotiations, as they have done at other local encampments. Because the Santa Rosa police destroyed possessions in a sweep of 9/28, the activists are defending possessions of those swept or arrested, and say that they will risk arrest to make sure similar destruction doesn’t happen again.
The fences around the property have been breached for months. Campers have been staying on the site and adjoining land off and on for months. “We have nothing to lose, so why run?” said Singleton. “Just send us someplace legal to go; that’s all we’re asking. Somewhere you won’t cite or arrest us for being alive.”