Swept Away: What cities really take when the sweep homeless encampments.

[sheshe2]

Seizure medication, wheelchairs, Social Security cards, dentures, urns of ashes, work uniforms — just some of what's been thrown away during cruel, degrading, utterly counterproductive homeless sweeps.

A good time to revisit this gutting @propublica.org story:

— Brian Goldstone (@brian-goldstone.bsky.social) 2025-08-15T02:52:17.195Z

As homelessness has surged to record levels in the U.S., cities are increasingly removing or “sweeping” tents or entire encampments of people living outdoors.

Cities say they carry out these clearings humanely with the goal of getting people off the street. But they often result in people's belongings being thrown away. ProPublica found — through reviewing records from 16 cities, reporting in 11 cities and speaking with people across the country — that these actions create a cycle of hardship.

Elijah Harris, 38, was living in a tent near Hollywood in January when Los Angeles sanitation workers showed up late one morning. Harris said he left to warn others nearby that the city was clearing the area. He came back to find his tent and its contents gone. He lost everything he needed for his job with DoorDash: his electric bike, ID and iPhone.

Losing his phone meant he had to regain access to his DoorDash account. Without his passport and Social Security card, which he said were also taken, that process proved difficult.

https://projects.propublica.org/homeless-encampment-sweeps-taken-belongings/

...............................................

The cruelty is the point.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[msongs]

2. gee if every bible thumper would adopt a homeless person the problem would vanish nt

[Emile]

3. It's a shame we don't have FEMA trailers anymore.

[popsdenver]

11. The last ones they bought in mass

for Katrina, the company couldn't sell normally, because the materials were off gassing horrific amounts of formaldahye?

The people they "gave" them to, all got sicker than dogs and had to move out of them.......

Bush saved that company by buying them all......wonder what he, (actually Cheney/Rumsfeld) got in return....

[quakerboy]

4. its also quite counterproductive in reducing crime

When your bed and tent get swept.. you still have to sleep the next day. And you need bedding and shelter.

The people amongst the community who are willing to give you a tent or a few bucks for a sleeping bag.. are often those with ulterior motives.

So now you lost your stuff, such as it was. And you owe some favors to someone.

[TnDem]

5. Not counterproductive at all to DC...

However, it will be very counterproductive to northern Virginia and PG County Maryland. That's where they will migrate to.

[Cha]

6. Mahalo for giving this Attention, she.

ICE doesn't need to be so extremely Cruel... they want to. Causing More Chaos as much as they can.. for Traitor's Ultimate Goal of Martial law.

[sheshe2]

10. 'They are just following orders' *cough*.

Ice is not even made up of federal workers anymore. They are bounty hunters.

Noem announced that they have dropped the age requirements when hiring. We are going to have an army of Kyle Rittenhouse wannabes shooting everyone on sight. There will be no punishments for them, none at all.

[Cha]

13. Traitor Street Killers with Full Imunity.

I Hope the Law of Unintended Consequences Strikes out in Full Bloom, ASAP.

[sheshe2]

15. It sure looks like that is the case.

I sincerely hope so too, Cha. Consequences. 'em.

[AllaN01Bear]

7. my chief complaaint is "when you get rid of the homeless,,,, where do you send them to and who do u shove them on to"?

great snippit

[GoodRaisin]

8. K&R

[not fooled]

9. Re-institutionalizing the homeless?

Well, I guess we've come full circle since that evil old bastard raygun kicked the mentally ill out of facilities onto the streets.

Yes, this time the cruelty is the point.

[rickyhall]

12. What they used to call simple searches are now Search and Destroy Missions.

[ReRe]

14. K&R

Yep, it's the cruelty, sheshe. I hope someone among us has been keeping a journal of all the cruel things Asshole has done just since he took office on Jan 20th. Then when we finally dig ourselves out of this God-awful mess, publish it. Make sure people don't sweep this horrible history under the rug to be forgotten for a hundred years. And just call it CRUELTY.
Dedicate it to those Homeless People. From it's profit, start a Foundation.
Call it the Human Kindness Fund.

[sheshe2]

16. Hi, ReRe.

I like this:

Dedicate it to those Homeless People. From its profit, start a Foundation.
Call it the Human Kindness Fund.

From your lips to the goddess's ear, my friend.

[ReRe]

17. If I was younger I would do it myself.

But at my age, if I write anything it's got to be that damn memoir I've promised my family.

[sheshe2]

18. ....