November 4, 2025 • 38 mins
This week, Theo heads to a protest organized by the unhoused residents of the Mountain View encampment after yet another violent sweep. Their question: why isn’t their DSA-endorsed councilperson, Eunisses Hernandez, showing up? Residents, organizers, and mutual aid workers share their perspectives.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Previously on the Whedian House.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The Sidewalk School has worked with the unhoused population for
six years straight. But it's very specific because we work
with immigrants on the Mexico side who live inside of encampments.
And I'm gonna be honest with THEA. When you contacted
me about working with the unhoused population, I never put
(00:27):
it in that context, even though I've worked in eleven encampments.
I guess because it is immigration and it's somehow seems
separate from me for some reason, but it's not. It's
the same thing and the community built within the encampment.
It's like a small city or town that comes together
(00:48):
to protect each other and help each other.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Welcome to Weedian House. I'm your host, Theo Henderson. We
have a lot of information to go through this episode,
so hang tight and let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
First fun house.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
News in case you missed it, We that is, our country,
are in the midst of a shutdown snap benefits will
be cut on Saturday, November one, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Nationwide.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Millions of people will be impacted housing unhoused. Mainstream reporting
gives a good accounting of how house people will be affected.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is from ABC News.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
So alexis, how big is the impact here?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
If Snap benefits run out?
Speaker 5 (01:52):
It could be devastating. In fact, I saw this one
quote from the CEO of Hunger Free America. He says,
we would have the greatest hunger catastrophee in this country
since the Great Depression. When you look at the sheer numbers, Diane,
about forty two million people on SNAP benefits formerly known
as food stamps. More than sixty two percent of those
(02:13):
live in households with children. Thirty seven percent include older adults,
people with disabilities, veterans, and a misconception here is that
people on SNAP benefits don't work. A large number of
them do their families that go out to work and
try to make ends meet.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Language matters here.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
How you phrase things can include or exclude a group
of people. When the reporter mentions that forty one to
forty two million people receives not benefits, there is poor
data collections for the unhoused community. In realer terms, theon
house community will fall off the tracks. Early last week,
(02:54):
scores of federal workers were in.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Food bank lines.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
These people work for a Livings continue to skyrocket under
Donald Trump's regime This too impacts the unhoused community because
of added difficulties of using stoves and other appliances to
store their perishables. In addition to this, with the city's
(03:20):
constant raids and Trump's executive order on removing and erasing
the unhoused existence, it makes the unhoused ability to obtain
and use SNAP benefits more difficult. Did you know that
in twenty twenty four, thirteen point six percent of California's
population received SNAP benefits. The question at our feet now
(03:41):
is how long will the poor house or housed endure
vist if you lost your STAP benefits in the Los
Angeles area and nar seeking mutual aid. Check out some
of the links in the description of this episode. Our
last story passed guests, Jesse Ross of IDHA in New York,
(04:03):
gave us insightful information on what it means to decarceerate Care.
On Wednesday, November fifth, twenty twenty five, from six pm
to eight pm Eastern Time, their tenth installment of idha's
Decarcerated Care will be online. Conversation topics will include mental health, liberation, housing, justice, abolition,
(04:28):
and beyond. In addition to this, a renewed conversation on
state sanctioned violence against mad, disabled and unhoused communities. A
guiding question is what will it take to take police
out of mental health crisis responses and advanced true community
based care. If you like to join, the link is
(04:50):
in the description of this episode, and that's on House News.
When we come back, we're going to a tend a
press conference dealing with the increased raids against one encampment
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Welcome back to Whittian House. I'm THEO Henderson.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Today I'm taking you to a press conference that happened
in the aftermath of a brutal police raid. Raids have
become a constant subject of discussion in the last six
months as the Trump regime has weaponized ice to attack
and kidnap entire communities.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Raids that we see live.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
On television, But there are other raids that happen every
day in our communities. One that have become so normalized
to house people that they don't even think of them
as such. These raids are against the in house, both
as individuals or as encampments of people. Make no mistake,
Even as so many have become desensitized to officials and
(06:00):
police at every level, displacing and attacking the un housed.
These are very much raids, they're just not raised that
are addressed in the mainstream. That brings us to this
week's story. A few weeks ago, I was informed of
a raid of this nature that happened at an encampment
not too far outside of my neighborhood, and organized reached
(06:23):
out and invited me to a press conference called by
the Young House residents of the encampment that had been intact.
I was fortunate to get their stories on record and
be educated on the actions or inactions of their city
council person, Unices Hernandez. On the campaign trail, Unices presented
(06:45):
herself as different from incumbent council person yos Dio, who
embraced police action against the N House community. He voted
for forty one to eighteen to be put into effect,
which made it illegal for the n House to sit, sleep,
or lie on public land. Unicis Student part A DSA
endorsed candidate because of her stance of wanting to repeal
(07:08):
forty one to eighteen and not to use it as
a cudgel to displace the end House community in her district.
I don't want to give away the plot, but let's
just say that Unsses hasn't exactly hold up her campaign promises.
Here are the residents accounts of the raid conducted by
the LAPD in late October and their feelings on their
(07:28):
city council person's failure to show up. Good morning. This
is Ceo Henderson from Weedy at House. This episode is
out in the field and I must warn our listeners
on there's going to be some environmental challenges because we
are where we are. Today's a press conference for context,
(07:50):
and this is a statement to the council person at large.
Today unices Hernandez and their lack of action or taking
a stance to help the unhoused community. Many of the
unhoused community members are trying to get her attention in
order for them to slow down or stop the hostility
(08:14):
of the city of trying to displace the onnhouse people.
I hope to interview a few of the residents as
well as given update two. Some of the un housed
and some of the protesters arrived earlier in the evening
of yesterday and they were arrested. I was just informed,
to put this more bluntly and put this more in perspective,
we have two different worlds or two different Americas going
(08:36):
on right now. We have the obsious displacement and force
removal of people just minding their business and knowing about
the business of their day, or going to courthouses and
trying to be the legal citizen, and which feeds into
the narrative of worthy or unworthy, poor or worthy and
unworthy people that they should be here, and it creates
(08:59):
this dichotomy that makes it so that when you see
people that are getting accosted or arrested, then this brings
out the judgment of they deserve what they got, and
that is no different with the in the House community.
We have members in all our communities, in our intersections thatspective,
pursue that kind of ideology in order to distance themselves
(09:23):
from the horrors of capitalism, horrors of supremacy, white supremacy,
the horrors of police brutality, the horrors of us versus them.
To bridge the listener into the press conference, allow me
(09:45):
just at the stage. The conference took place in front
of one of Union's Hernandez Council offices, wherever the in
house community provided a list of demands and the effects
on their community they had endured as a result of
this raid.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Their demands are as follows. I was handed a.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Demand letter or a letter of attention to Council Member
Eunice's Hernandez eric Ares and the Council one team, and
it says the sweepyard office ordered on Thursday, October ninth,
has caused devastating and ongoing harm to every person who
is living at the Mountain View and Beverly encampment in
(10:30):
your district. Cops arrived before six am, more than an
hour prior to the sweep and slash tents, dragging people
into the street. Cops violently zip tie, photographed, and fingerprinted
every person at the encampment, including people living in nearby
shelters who came to help friends move their belongings in
(10:53):
advance of your sweep. Everyone was cited with Los Angeles
Municipal Code forty one eighteen, the city law that criminalizes sitting, lying,
or having personal belongings in public spaces, full of the
crime of being poor in public lapd barred from returning
(11:15):
to the tents to retrieve belongings until minutes before your
sweep began. Everyone grabbed what they could carry before being
abruptly chased out. Your sweep destroyed every single tent, leaving
every person at the encampment without shelter, even as our
city facius flash floods warnings this week, Eric Aris, you
(11:39):
refuse to commit to providing anything to anyone when the
encampment asked to speak with you about shelter and housing options.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Und not offer services.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Replacement tents, hope, with citation, or even an apology for
the brutality and trauma everyone experienced simply because they are
too poor to.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Have a home, and not for a lack of trying.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
The Mountain View community publicly issue demands about housing to
council Member Hernandez in May of this year, your office
has failed to provide it. Last month, a woman from
the Mountain View Encampment tearfully recounted to you how a
cop repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted her at your August sleep.
(12:29):
You consoled her, but that same predator cop again oversaw
your sleep on Thursday and will continue for future sweep.
To you order, you do not get to wash your
hands of this your sweep bring this sexual predator in
contact with this woman. He has repeatedly targeted. You have
a moral obligation to put an end to this. When
(12:52):
another woman was rutalized by a different cop on Thursday,
she pleaded with him to stop hurting her, explaining that
he was triggering a Homer response related to her surviving
domestic violence. The cop continued to manhander her anyway, this
is the type of brutality or that it occurs at
your sweeps.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
You've been made aware of it. This is unacceptable.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
When you sweep an encampment, you create permission structure for
cops and nimbis to threaten further displaced and inflict violence
on your poorest constituents. On Friday, the day after your sweep,
people working at the auto shop behind the encampment hurled
car bumpers and other depris as people living on the sidewalk. Later,
(13:36):
cops raided the encampment again in the middle of the night,
chasing everyone, including elderly and disabled people, across Beverly Boulevard
into Council Member Hugo Soda Martinez district Sinceria settling across
the street. The neighbors and the same cops who brutalized
them at your sweep. On Sunday, a house person in
(13:58):
Alexis told the encamp meant that he has violent tendencies
and threatened to return to set the encampment on fire.
Cops constantly drive up and down the block, threatening this
community and vowing to continue displacing them. This is not
what care looks like. This is certainly not what abolition
(14:19):
looks like. Now is the time for action. Your silence
and complacency will no longer be tolerated. Over the past
few days, the Mountain View community has updated their demands.
We demand permanent housing. That's number one. Number two is
permanent housing is an available. We demand shelter with our
(14:42):
own private space, our own bathroom, quality meals, and mental
health services. Number three put offers of housing and shelter
in writing. Number four, we demand access to a private
PO box so that we can have a mailing address
for employment, be able to do our taxes, and receive
(15:05):
personal documents like ID disability checks and Social Security cards.
Five move reporter party on Mountain View to where we
were forced to relocate.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Some of us are old and it is hard to
walk that far.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Number six we demand that the council member fight to
get our forty one to eighteen tickets expunged number seven.
We demand that the council member fight to get rid
of this law and stop cops from threatening us. It's
been NonStop since this week. Council Member Hernandez, you are
(15:44):
one of the most powerful politicians.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
In the second largest city in the United States.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Meet the Mountain views, communities demands, fulfill your campaign promises
and your violence sweeps, and fight back at against the
criminalization of poverty. In July twenty twenty one, you posted
forty one eighteen is not going to solve the crisis
we're in.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It's just sweep.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Sit under the rug, out of sight, out of mind
for the council. Now that you have the power to
meaningfully reduce forty one eighteen enforcement, you and your team
have failed to take action, leading to cops sighting, arresting,
and forcibly displacing hundreds, if not thousands, of your poorest constituents.
(16:35):
Councilmember Hernandez, you have voted against new forty one eighteen
zones and other council members districts, yet refuse to take
action in your own. Your complacency led to forty one
eighteen arrests skyrocketing three hundred and twenty nine percent and
Council District I during your first two years in office,
(16:59):
according to data complied on LACD Controller Kenneth Mahea's website.
Instead of repealing the same forty one eighteen enforcement zones
that you loudly criticize your predecessor guilts of deal for
passing through city council, you look the other way while
comps increasingly criminalize the poorest people you represent. You seem
(17:24):
to have lost touch with your organizing roots, so let
us remind you. When you order sweeps, you betray the
promises you may before taking office. When you order sweeps,
you destroy documents, life saving medicine, clothes, blankets, people's shelter,
family photos, two's used for work, and so much more.
When you order sweeps, you needlessly put predatory cops in
(17:47):
direct contact with vulnerable people. When you order sweeps, you
make it harder for people to connect with medical care
services and ouss. When you order sweeps, you remove organizers
from community controls that work to save people from ice
and DHS cadnappings.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
You have broken trust.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
The sweeps that you order have been a horrific and
required monitoring from people who will hold you accountable.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Stop cowering, stop.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Sweeping the crisis in your district under the rugs, Start
wielding your power. Meet the Mountain View community's demands and sweeps,
and start fighting.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Back against forty one to eighteen. We will make sure
everyone's watching signed the mountain View.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Community when we come back more Freman House residents and
activists at the press conference, Welcome back to Wiedian House.
I'm Theo Henderson. Let's return to the press conference. After
(18:57):
the community announced their demands of councilperson Fernandez, I got
a chance to speak with residents and activist about what
happens next. First, I spoke with a mutual organizer by
the name of M about their work.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
My name is M.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And what organization you represent?
Speaker 6 (19:15):
All Power Free Clinic? Okay, what do you do? All
Power Free Clinic is a medical mutuoid efforts that seeks
to support health by the people for the people, especially
around a house, neighbors, folks living outside, anyone who's living
under the threat of save violence.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
So you help a lot of out the House community members, right.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
We do. Yeah, we're out every week with working with
Mutual Aid Efforts in Los Angeles and supporting with medical care.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Were you helping the community that's being impacted today's attack
are targeted by the Copson City Council.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
Yes, we helped provide them with medical supplies. A lot
of them are taking care of each other and we
were just making sure that they had what they needed
to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
What happens when you have your work disrupted?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Because I suspect if you have many people displaced, they're
running around, does this make you work a little more
easier or what's going No to.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Be frank, every time it's something like this happens, we
all are nervous. Could we know that these things kill people?
Every sweep is a potential murder. People lose their support,
we can't follow with people, They lose their ability to
check off on each other. And I think it's always
really scary. So you never know how you're going to
find people again. So it makes our work incredibly challenging.
A lot of progress that we build up we over weeks,
(20:21):
over months, helping people keeal wounds, get back on medications,
all that is kind of thrown away when something like
this happens.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And for what.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
If there's a message that you wish to send to
the counsel of person. What would that message be.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
I would say that displacement and criminalization actions that are
created by laws like forty one eighteen are never going
to lead to the health of the people. And if
that's something that this council number takes seriously, if she's
really invested in and showing that all of her residents
and neighbors and constituents are healthy, then she overdo whatever
she can to appeal these laws. How has a progress
that's been so far in your estimation dismal?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah, I unheard that she's she's been turning down or
speaking out against forty one to eighteen and other council
people's district, but has remained silent.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Is this correct?
Speaker 6 (21:06):
This is correct, and it just shows I think the
hypocrisy right which it's within her power to do exactly
what the Mountain you and Beverly Kim Gammitt is asking
her to do, and so we're waiting to see what
she'll do. I think actions speak louder than words.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Absolutely. What is the next steps after this conversation and
press conference? What do you guys have plan on doing
next after this?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I think we'll continue to do what we always do
is helping people stay alive, take care of each other.
I think the encampment is going to continue to put
pressure and do what they need to do to ensure
that the demands are met, and I hope that the
broader Los Angeles community is here in solidarity with them.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Do you see a similarity into the behaviors that's going
on right now with ICE and LA City.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Absolutely. I think something that we became really clear to
us in the last couple of months is that every
forty one teen operation insight safe operation is also a raid.
I think it's really important to use that language. These
are often kidnappings, arrest without charges, arrest without with my
unidentified officers rowing up and expecting people to listen to
what they do. People don't know where they're going. I
(22:07):
think there's a lot of similarities, and I think ICE
has been horrible and violent and atrocious, and it's hopefully
really building a conscious among people in Los Angeles. But
I want to be really clear that this has been
going on for years. You know that many people know
that they've been living under this type of kidnapping.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
And it didn't take Donald Trump to put a lack
of fire.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Did no now the fire has been set and honestly,
on house people have been the wood used to burn
the fire.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Thanks so much to him for their account and for
showing up for the young House community. You can follow
the All Power Free clinic at the link in the description. Next,
I spoke to encampment resident Nelson on how the raids
impacted him and how he became on house. What's the
(22:57):
purpose of today's meeting for housing? What is precipitating you
guys making this urgent and mad the.
Speaker 7 (23:06):
Abuse we begained regarding for the weight of housing abuse
from cops, getting raided, getting our property taken away. I
had a trait told all my property, all my tools,
everything I have, just taking away like nothing.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You mentioned tools are what do you do construction or something?
I'm a handyman and that helps you for your survivor correct? Correct,
Let's be back up. I didn't introduce who you are.
What's your day, Nelson Medow School. How long have you
been out here living in the streets.
Speaker 8 (23:46):
Since twenty nineteen or twenty nineteen?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
How did you end up getting out here?
Speaker 7 (23:51):
In two nineteen, I got evicted from where I was
living due to the fact that my partner at that
time went through some health issues. She ended up reading
to her country and me by myself. I, you know,
couldn't keep up with the payments, couldn't keep up with
(24:13):
the bills, car notes, you know, et cetera, et cetera.
They need food, transportation, and you know that made me
end up in the street.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Have anyone reached out to offer services to help you
get you back on your feet.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
Yeah, until this last two years, I've been working with
Homeless health Care Center. But before that, you know, I
tried many places and never got an answer. I started
living in my car. Then I lost my car, ended
up you know, being in a tent.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
I've been getting help here and there from organizations like Locks,
Homeless Healthcare Center and you know others, and that's you know,
we're taking it from there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
The issues that's going on now with the police and
Eunice is Hernandez. How did this start to intensify?
Speaker 7 (25:06):
It started with the police rading. He asked everybody to
come out. Boy, they actually didn't ask. They were just
you know, kicking everybody out, ripping tents, whatnot, just to
get everybody out.
Speaker 8 (25:17):
My encounter was.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Getting a little bit more than physical while getting detained.
You know, I thought it was a riot when it
was supposed to be a sweep or a street cleaning.
My understanding to a street cleaning, as you know, one
officer or one patrol unit for the whole situation. But
we got about forty cops at five in the morning,
(25:45):
you know, just being harassed, being treated like a I
don't know, like we're really doing some type of crime.
Speaker 8 (25:53):
We got a zip tight to the back of our
hands and taken to a corner.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
You know, they continue doing their info information, trying to
check everybody out where had a warrant.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
They took them.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Uh, they were.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
Gonna take me, but then all of a sudden they
released me. So I didn't understand why after that, you know,
six point thirty was sweeping for the city and we
didn't have time to pick up whatever we have. I
have most of my belongings on the trader. I had
the missing wheels. They told me, yeah, get the missing
(26:31):
wheels or get some help or somebody to take that take.
Speaker 8 (26:34):
That trader out.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
But what they did was more work because they went
through my trader, threw everything out, my tools, my clothing,
My daddy is my daddy, belonging things and two that
I needed for work or whatnot, and so that created
more time taking away. I had fifteen minutes to get
somebody to pick up my trader, which he came maybe
(27:00):
twenty minutes, and then they say, you know what, too late,
it's gonna get told. I think it was more mostly
for a personal issue or just you know, Okay, I'm
a mess with this guy. And that's how I feel
because they told me yes at one point, didn't tell
(27:21):
me no. Now now I have nothing. All I had
was just the clothing on my on myself, no tense,
no nothing, but you know, the homeless, the organizations that
helped me, and they got us some tent.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
So that's how I started again.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
One of the questions I would have asked, because I
don't know if you've been seeing this is going on
as well as with the ice raids. Have you noticed
that there are Is there any difference between the LA
City coming in and sweeping you and the LA the
ice raates? Do you see Are they coming into your
en campus as well?
Speaker 7 (27:58):
No, I haven't seen ice and encampments, but their presence
is pretty pretty well known. They're they're around here. So
the way they do.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
It is just similar. I bey reave, just snatch and
grabs and let's go.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Are you worried that high school run up on you
if you have, if they are taking your things and
taking leaving you with only your clothes on your back,
are you worried that they are going to be able
to be targeted easier?
Speaker 8 (28:31):
No, I'm not worried about ice. Why not Wan citizens?
Speaker 1 (28:36):
They are taking people that are sisztens to.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
Yeah, No, I'm still not worried about that. You know,
I mean where else supposed to take me? If I
don't know, nobody else gone anywhere else?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Thanks so much to Nelson.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Another community member, Yeah Bro brings the ring about them
to city and her lived experience.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Here's her story. What's your name, Deborah Williams, Debra? How
long have you been living in your car?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Since way back whenny playing three?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
My first time? How did you get started living in
your car?
Speaker 9 (29:16):
The thing is I filed for because everybody lost their
job because of the COVID. Right then there's the EULA program.
I filed for the EULA program. But then my landlord,
you know, kind of like ignored the EULA.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
I was approved.
Speaker 9 (29:30):
Ready, she just needs to like, you know, sign everything
approved it the landlord, but she didn't. Then I tried
to get help from the county for legal aid, but
there's too busy, you know.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
So I wasn't able to get help and I got divicted.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I'm sorry to hear that. So what is the hardest
thing about living in your car?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Well, of course, no sleep the hardest part. And I
have a dog with me.
Speaker 9 (29:53):
Easy to get a job, but the thing is it's
hard to where I'm going to put my dog. I
can't lock Lerry in the car, you know. So right
now I'm probably doing uber eats.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
So trying to make you know, a living, so hopefully
I can get a place to stay, you know, with.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
The high rents that's going on, and you're working uber eats.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Okay, if someone was first starting out being out on
the streets, what's the first thing that you had to overcome?
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Fear of getting attacked? Yeah, I'm getting robbed.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
How did you How did you overcome that? What did
you do? What precautions you do?
Speaker 9 (30:24):
You need to be together with the other homeless, you
need to join forces, you know, your protect e shut.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
What do you think about the protests that's going on
right in front of you.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Yeah, that's good. People will listen hopefully, Yeah, yeah, because
nobody visits to the homeless.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Yeah, and this is one of the things that we're
trying to do is wake up the community. What's going on.
Have you been observing what's going on with ice Rays, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I do.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
But the thing is they're trying to like get get
rid of the homelessness in the streets.
Speaker 9 (30:52):
But the thing is, it's not just supposed to be
the cops, you know, or the workers in the streets.
It's supposed to be a little bit together with the
DP says, because since they're the one who's trained social
workers to talk to the home, especially the mentally you know.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
So, but the thing is, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 9 (31:08):
It's just the police and the workers get the sanitaddy
like they don't.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Care about their stuff that get get.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Out, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Very true. Well, Deborah, I thank you for your time,
and again I hope you stay safe. Thanks so much
to Deborah.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Finally, I caught up with the encampment resident Chad, who
brings his experience of living in the affected encampment for
the world to hear.
Speaker 10 (31:37):
Hi, how's it going, what's your day? Chance Sherwin.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
It's the Sherwin. What it's been going on? You've been
living on the streets, right, Yeah, unfortunately for a while. Now.
How long have you been out here?
Speaker 10 (31:48):
It's been off and on for six years.
Speaker 11 (31:51):
However, I've been kind of back and forth from housing,
temporary housing to jail. I had temporary housing for a while,
like about a year and a half, and then I
was out on the street somewhere walking and I got
pulled over and apparently I had a warrant that it
(32:11):
was a reopened case.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
It was just a.
Speaker 11 (32:15):
I stole something from Target or something from Orange County
and they, I guess, they reopened the case and I
wasn't expected to be reopened. I went to court and
all that, but since it was reopened, I still had
a warrant. So I got sent to jail and it
was like two months or something. And when I got out,
they unfortunately took my room over but I called numerous
(32:36):
times and the hotel never answered. It's like they didn't
really want to answer the phone.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
So what's been going on over in Mountain View.
Speaker 10 (32:46):
Well, it's been like maybe two weeks ago.
Speaker 11 (32:50):
There was a raid at our initial establishment where we
had like maybe fifteen tents, and we've been living there
on enough or like I say, almost six months, maybe
a little longer, and the cops they decided to come
through instead of the initial sweep. Now sweep is where
they take all the trash and everything out from the
(33:12):
area and push it aside and clean it up while
we take our tents and things and move them off
of the property. But what happened is we were ready
to pull the tents away and take them to the
other road, where the officers came through thirteen to twenty
deep and ripped a hole in the tarps and said
get on the floor, blah blah blah.
Speaker 10 (33:32):
They tried to arrest numerous people.
Speaker 11 (33:35):
I think they did arrest like three or four of us,
and they checked everybody for warrants. Mind you, we weren't
doing anything wrong, like at all. We didn't do We
weren't doing anything, and they said we were in fraction
of a municipapal code.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
Or something on a new law. But I really don't
think we were.
Speaker 11 (33:51):
I think I spoke to said we were actually in
playing legal boundaries to do with DISO. So I don't
know why they decided to do what they did, Yeah,
I was going.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
To act you because they're like, why all of this escalation.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Forty one eighteen has been out for a while and
mostly if not been enforced because of the backlash and
then to what's going on with the ice detention and
all the raids.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
The law enforcement has been occupied. So what started them
to all of a sudden stare it to be much
more aggressive.
Speaker 11 (34:19):
I'm thinking they're taking the next approach, like there's a
they have this all planned out since day one, so
they know what they're doing, and I think they are
just following their timelines necessarily, and something to do with
you know, the the Olympics and all that. They're trying
to get this place cleaned up, which is understandable. But
we don't need to go to jail and be thrown
(34:39):
about and taking all our stuff away, you know. We
just need to be placed into temporary housing so we
can get our licenses or IDs and get permanent housing,
just like you know, Section eight has been around for years,
you know, so that's what.
Speaker 10 (34:51):
We're trying to do.
Speaker 11 (34:51):
But in the meantime, all we're asking for is temporary housing,
which is like a hotel stay, you know, It's not
like hotels are the best location as it is, you know,
that's still the bottom of the food chain living.
Speaker 10 (35:02):
So it's sad that they won't even offer that to
their citizens of the community.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
So what are the next steps to getting them to
get their attention.
Speaker 11 (35:12):
Well, we're standing out here on sixth Street doing a
rally or a protest, I don't know what you call it,
but we're in front of the councilwoman's office. I'm not
exactly sure of her name off the top of my head,
Hernandez Unice is Hernandez. Yeah, And we're basically just standing
up for what we believe in, trying to get us
housing and this. You know, there's, like I said, about
(35:34):
thirteen thirteen or so people that really have been out
here for a long time, and some of them suffer
from mental illnesses. We've seen numerous assaults and things like
that on the street that are just not meant to
see all the time. And it's not like we're in war,
you know, So it's just this tragic the amount of
bloodshed we've seen on these streets. It's just because we're
(35:55):
on the streets so long, you know, that we see
things that we shouldn't have. But yeah, we're trying to
get initial housing over here, just temporary stuff.
Speaker 10 (36:04):
That's all we need.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk
with us. Is there anything what you'd like to send
about situe unites?
Speaker 11 (36:14):
Just see the amount of effort we're trying to put
forth in just getting temporary housing. You know, that's that's
way insane compared to the most people that are just
sitting around that you guys offer the temporary housing to.
You know, we're trying super hard to get this and
we'll leave. You know, we have no problem just being
(36:35):
ghosts about the whole situation, you know, just going away
and starting our normal life again. But I really think
you should take a step back and do what you
can for as many people as you can at the time.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
But you can well, thank you again.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
You heard it yourself from the residents that are living
on the streets. Treat them like adults, give them dignify,
take the temporary housing until the situation could become long term,
and they're you have it. Thank you to Chad and
again to everyone who spoke to me at the conference.
This is a developing story that will require updates. We'll
(37:11):
share more information as it becomes available. Finally, thank you
for listening in If you have a story you'd like
to share or raise you have witnessed that need to
be highlighted, please reach out to me at Whedianhouse at
gmail dot com or whedian House on Instagram. Until then,
(37:32):
may we again meet in the light of understanding. Whedian
House is a production of iHeartRadio. It is written, hosted,
and created by me Theo Henderson, our producers Jamie Loftus,
Hailey Fager, Katie Fischel, and Lyra Smith. Our editor is
Adam Want, our engineer is Joel Jerome, and our local
(37:55):
art is also by Katie Fisher.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Can you d you you
Previously on the Whedian House.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
The Sidewalk School has worked with the unhoused population for
six years straight. But it's very specific because we work
with immigrants on the Mexico side who live inside of encampments.
And I'm gonna be honest with THEA. When you contacted
me about working with the unhoused population, I never put
(00:27):
it in that context, even though I've worked in eleven encampments.
I guess because it is immigration and it's somehow seems
separate from me for some reason, but it's not. It's
the same thing and the community built within the encampment.
It's like a small city or town that comes together
(00:48):
to protect each other and help each other.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Welcome to Weedian House. I'm your host, Theo Henderson. We
have a lot of information to go through this episode,
so hang tight and let's jump in.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
First fun house.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
News in case you missed it, We that is, our country,
are in the midst of a shutdown snap benefits will
be cut on Saturday, November one, twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Nationwide.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Millions of people will be impacted housing unhoused. Mainstream reporting
gives a good accounting of how house people will be affected.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
This is from ABC News.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
So alexis, how big is the impact here?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
If Snap benefits run out?
Speaker 5 (01:52):
It could be devastating. In fact, I saw this one
quote from the CEO of Hunger Free America. He says,
we would have the greatest hunger catastrophee in this country
since the Great Depression. When you look at the sheer numbers, Diane,
about forty two million people on SNAP benefits formerly known
as food stamps. More than sixty two percent of those
(02:13):
live in households with children. Thirty seven percent include older adults,
people with disabilities, veterans, and a misconception here is that
people on SNAP benefits don't work. A large number of
them do their families that go out to work and
try to make ends meet.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Language matters here.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
How you phrase things can include or exclude a group
of people. When the reporter mentions that forty one to
forty two million people receives not benefits, there is poor
data collections for the unhoused community. In realer terms, theon
house community will fall off the tracks. Early last week,
(02:54):
scores of federal workers were in.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Food bank lines.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
These people work for a Livings continue to skyrocket under
Donald Trump's regime This too impacts the unhoused community because
of added difficulties of using stoves and other appliances to
store their perishables. In addition to this, with the city's
(03:20):
constant raids and Trump's executive order on removing and erasing
the unhoused existence, it makes the unhoused ability to obtain
and use SNAP benefits more difficult. Did you know that
in twenty twenty four, thirteen point six percent of California's
population received SNAP benefits. The question at our feet now
(03:41):
is how long will the poor house or housed endure
vist if you lost your STAP benefits in the Los
Angeles area and nar seeking mutual aid. Check out some
of the links in the description of this episode. Our
last story passed guests, Jesse Ross of IDHA in New York,
(04:03):
gave us insightful information on what it means to decarceerate Care.
On Wednesday, November fifth, twenty twenty five, from six pm
to eight pm Eastern Time, their tenth installment of idha's
Decarcerated Care will be online. Conversation topics will include mental health, liberation, housing, justice, abolition,
(04:28):
and beyond. In addition to this, a renewed conversation on
state sanctioned violence against mad, disabled and unhoused communities. A
guiding question is what will it take to take police
out of mental health crisis responses and advanced true community
based care. If you like to join, the link is
(04:50):
in the description of this episode, and that's on House News.
When we come back, we're going to a tend a
press conference dealing with the increased raids against one encampment
in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Welcome back to Whittian House. I'm THEO Henderson.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Today I'm taking you to a press conference that happened
in the aftermath of a brutal police raid. Raids have
become a constant subject of discussion in the last six
months as the Trump regime has weaponized ice to attack
and kidnap entire communities.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Raids that we see live.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
On television, But there are other raids that happen every
day in our communities. One that have become so normalized
to house people that they don't even think of them
as such. These raids are against the in house, both
as individuals or as encampments of people. Make no mistake,
Even as so many have become desensitized to officials and
(06:00):
police at every level, displacing and attacking the un housed.
These are very much raids, they're just not raised that
are addressed in the mainstream. That brings us to this
week's story. A few weeks ago, I was informed of
a raid of this nature that happened at an encampment
not too far outside of my neighborhood, and organized reached
(06:23):
out and invited me to a press conference called by
the Young House residents of the encampment that had been intact.
I was fortunate to get their stories on record and
be educated on the actions or inactions of their city
council person, Unices Hernandez. On the campaign trail, Unices presented
(06:45):
herself as different from incumbent council person yos Dio, who
embraced police action against the N House community. He voted
for forty one to eighteen to be put into effect,
which made it illegal for the n House to sit, sleep,
or lie on public land. Unicis Student part A DSA
endorsed candidate because of her stance of wanting to repeal
(07:08):
forty one to eighteen and not to use it as
a cudgel to displace the end House community in her district.
I don't want to give away the plot, but let's
just say that Unsses hasn't exactly hold up her campaign promises.
Here are the residents accounts of the raid conducted by
the LAPD in late October and their feelings on their
(07:28):
city council person's failure to show up. Good morning. This
is Ceo Henderson from Weedy at House. This episode is
out in the field and I must warn our listeners
on there's going to be some environmental challenges because we
are where we are. Today's a press conference for context,
(07:50):
and this is a statement to the council person at large.
Today unices Hernandez and their lack of action or taking
a stance to help the unhoused community. Many of the
unhoused community members are trying to get her attention in
order for them to slow down or stop the hostility
(08:14):
of the city of trying to displace the onnhouse people.
I hope to interview a few of the residents as
well as given update two. Some of the un housed
and some of the protesters arrived earlier in the evening
of yesterday and they were arrested. I was just informed,
to put this more bluntly and put this more in perspective,
we have two different worlds or two different Americas going
(08:36):
on right now. We have the obsious displacement and force
removal of people just minding their business and knowing about
the business of their day, or going to courthouses and
trying to be the legal citizen, and which feeds into
the narrative of worthy or unworthy, poor or worthy and
unworthy people that they should be here, and it creates
(08:59):
this dichotomy that makes it so that when you see
people that are getting accosted or arrested, then this brings
out the judgment of they deserve what they got, and
that is no different with the in the House community.
We have members in all our communities, in our intersections thatspective,
pursue that kind of ideology in order to distance themselves
(09:23):
from the horrors of capitalism, horrors of supremacy, white supremacy,
the horrors of police brutality, the horrors of us versus them.
To bridge the listener into the press conference, allow me
(09:45):
just at the stage. The conference took place in front
of one of Union's Hernandez Council offices, wherever the in
house community provided a list of demands and the effects
on their community they had endured as a result of
this raid.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Their demands are as follows. I was handed a.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Demand letter or a letter of attention to Council Member
Eunice's Hernandez eric Ares and the Council one team, and
it says the sweepyard office ordered on Thursday, October ninth,
has caused devastating and ongoing harm to every person who
is living at the Mountain View and Beverly encampment in
(10:30):
your district. Cops arrived before six am, more than an
hour prior to the sweep and slash tents, dragging people
into the street. Cops violently zip tie, photographed, and fingerprinted
every person at the encampment, including people living in nearby
shelters who came to help friends move their belongings in
(10:53):
advance of your sweep. Everyone was cited with Los Angeles
Municipal Code forty one eighteen, the city law that criminalizes sitting, lying,
or having personal belongings in public spaces, full of the
crime of being poor in public lapd barred from returning
(11:15):
to the tents to retrieve belongings until minutes before your
sweep began. Everyone grabbed what they could carry before being
abruptly chased out. Your sweep destroyed every single tent, leaving
every person at the encampment without shelter, even as our
city facius flash floods warnings this week, Eric Aris, you
(11:39):
refuse to commit to providing anything to anyone when the
encampment asked to speak with you about shelter and housing options.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Und not offer services.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
Replacement tents, hope, with citation, or even an apology for
the brutality and trauma everyone experienced simply because they are
too poor to.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Have a home, and not for a lack of trying.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
The Mountain View community publicly issue demands about housing to
council Member Hernandez in May of this year, your office
has failed to provide it. Last month, a woman from
the Mountain View Encampment tearfully recounted to you how a
cop repeatedly sexually harassed and assaulted her at your August sleep.
(12:29):
You consoled her, but that same predator cop again oversaw
your sleep on Thursday and will continue for future sweep.
To you order, you do not get to wash your
hands of this your sweep bring this sexual predator in
contact with this woman. He has repeatedly targeted. You have
a moral obligation to put an end to this. When
(12:52):
another woman was rutalized by a different cop on Thursday,
she pleaded with him to stop hurting her, explaining that
he was triggering a Homer response related to her surviving
domestic violence. The cop continued to manhander her anyway, this
is the type of brutality or that it occurs at
your sweeps.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
You've been made aware of it. This is unacceptable.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
When you sweep an encampment, you create permission structure for
cops and nimbis to threaten further displaced and inflict violence
on your poorest constituents. On Friday, the day after your sweep,
people working at the auto shop behind the encampment hurled
car bumpers and other depris as people living on the sidewalk. Later,
(13:36):
cops raided the encampment again in the middle of the night,
chasing everyone, including elderly and disabled people, across Beverly Boulevard
into Council Member Hugo Soda Martinez district Sinceria settling across
the street. The neighbors and the same cops who brutalized
them at your sweep. On Sunday, a house person in
(13:58):
Alexis told the encamp meant that he has violent tendencies
and threatened to return to set the encampment on fire.
Cops constantly drive up and down the block, threatening this
community and vowing to continue displacing them. This is not
what care looks like. This is certainly not what abolition
(14:19):
looks like. Now is the time for action. Your silence
and complacency will no longer be tolerated. Over the past
few days, the Mountain View community has updated their demands.
We demand permanent housing. That's number one. Number two is
permanent housing is an available. We demand shelter with our
(14:42):
own private space, our own bathroom, quality meals, and mental
health services. Number three put offers of housing and shelter
in writing. Number four, we demand access to a private
PO box so that we can have a mailing address
for employment, be able to do our taxes, and receive
(15:05):
personal documents like ID disability checks and Social Security cards.
Five move reporter party on Mountain View to where we
were forced to relocate.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Some of us are old and it is hard to
walk that far.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
Number six we demand that the council member fight to
get our forty one to eighteen tickets expunged number seven.
We demand that the council member fight to get rid
of this law and stop cops from threatening us. It's
been NonStop since this week. Council Member Hernandez, you are
(15:44):
one of the most powerful politicians.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
In the second largest city in the United States.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Meet the Mountain views, communities demands, fulfill your campaign promises
and your violence sweeps, and fight back at against the
criminalization of poverty. In July twenty twenty one, you posted
forty one eighteen is not going to solve the crisis
we're in.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
It's just sweep.
Speaker 3 (16:10):
Sit under the rug, out of sight, out of mind
for the council. Now that you have the power to
meaningfully reduce forty one eighteen enforcement, you and your team
have failed to take action, leading to cops sighting, arresting,
and forcibly displacing hundreds, if not thousands, of your poorest constituents.
(16:35):
Councilmember Hernandez, you have voted against new forty one eighteen
zones and other council members districts, yet refuse to take
action in your own. Your complacency led to forty one
eighteen arrests skyrocketing three hundred and twenty nine percent and
Council District I during your first two years in office,
(16:59):
according to data complied on LACD Controller Kenneth Mahea's website.
Instead of repealing the same forty one eighteen enforcement zones
that you loudly criticize your predecessor guilts of deal for
passing through city council, you look the other way while
comps increasingly criminalize the poorest people you represent. You seem
(17:24):
to have lost touch with your organizing roots, so let
us remind you. When you order sweeps, you betray the
promises you may before taking office. When you order sweeps,
you destroy documents, life saving medicine, clothes, blankets, people's shelter,
family photos, two's used for work, and so much more.
When you order sweeps, you needlessly put predatory cops in
(17:47):
direct contact with vulnerable people. When you order sweeps, you
make it harder for people to connect with medical care
services and ouss. When you order sweeps, you remove organizers
from community controls that work to save people from ice
and DHS cadnappings.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
You have broken trust.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
The sweeps that you order have been a horrific and
required monitoring from people who will hold you accountable.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Stop cowering, stop.
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Sweeping the crisis in your district under the rugs, Start
wielding your power. Meet the Mountain View community's demands and sweeps,
and start fighting.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Back against forty one to eighteen. We will make sure
everyone's watching signed the mountain View.
Speaker 3 (18:30):
Community when we come back more Freman House residents and
activists at the press conference, Welcome back to Wiedian House.
I'm Theo Henderson. Let's return to the press conference. After
(18:57):
the community announced their demands of councilperson Fernandez, I got
a chance to speak with residents and activist about what
happens next. First, I spoke with a mutual organizer by
the name of M about their work.
Speaker 6 (19:11):
My name is M.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
And what organization you represent?
Speaker 6 (19:15):
All Power Free Clinic? Okay, what do you do? All
Power Free Clinic is a medical mutuoid efforts that seeks
to support health by the people for the people, especially
around a house, neighbors, folks living outside, anyone who's living
under the threat of save violence.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
So you help a lot of out the House community members, right.
Speaker 6 (19:31):
We do. Yeah, we're out every week with working with
Mutual Aid Efforts in Los Angeles and supporting with medical care.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
Were you helping the community that's being impacted today's attack
are targeted by the Copson City Council.
Speaker 6 (19:43):
Yes, we helped provide them with medical supplies. A lot
of them are taking care of each other and we
were just making sure that they had what they needed
to do that.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
What happens when you have your work disrupted?
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Because I suspect if you have many people displaced, they're
running around, does this make you work a little more
easier or what's going No to.
Speaker 6 (20:00):
Be frank, every time it's something like this happens, we
all are nervous. Could we know that these things kill people?
Every sweep is a potential murder. People lose their support,
we can't follow with people, They lose their ability to
check off on each other. And I think it's always
really scary. So you never know how you're going to
find people again. So it makes our work incredibly challenging.
A lot of progress that we build up we over weeks,
(20:21):
over months, helping people keeal wounds, get back on medications,
all that is kind of thrown away when something like
this happens.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
And for what.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
If there's a message that you wish to send to
the counsel of person. What would that message be.
Speaker 6 (20:34):
I would say that displacement and criminalization actions that are
created by laws like forty one eighteen are never going
to lead to the health of the people. And if
that's something that this council number takes seriously, if she's
really invested in and showing that all of her residents
and neighbors and constituents are healthy, then she overdo whatever
she can to appeal these laws. How has a progress
that's been so far in your estimation dismal?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Yeah, I unheard that she's she's been turning down or
speaking out against forty one to eighteen and other council
people's district, but has remained silent.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Is this correct?
Speaker 6 (21:06):
This is correct, and it just shows I think the
hypocrisy right which it's within her power to do exactly
what the Mountain you and Beverly Kim Gammitt is asking
her to do, and so we're waiting to see what
she'll do. I think actions speak louder than words.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
Absolutely. What is the next steps after this conversation and
press conference? What do you guys have plan on doing
next after this?
Speaker 6 (21:26):
I think we'll continue to do what we always do
is helping people stay alive, take care of each other.
I think the encampment is going to continue to put
pressure and do what they need to do to ensure
that the demands are met, and I hope that the
broader Los Angeles community is here in solidarity with them.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Do you see a similarity into the behaviors that's going
on right now with ICE and LA City.
Speaker 6 (21:47):
Absolutely. I think something that we became really clear to
us in the last couple of months is that every
forty one teen operation insight safe operation is also a raid.
I think it's really important to use that language. These
are often kidnappings, arrest without charges, arrest without with my
unidentified officers rowing up and expecting people to listen to
what they do. People don't know where they're going. I
(22:07):
think there's a lot of similarities, and I think ICE
has been horrible and violent and atrocious, and it's hopefully
really building a conscious among people in Los Angeles. But
I want to be really clear that this has been
going on for years. You know that many people know
that they've been living under this type of kidnapping.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
And it didn't take Donald Trump to put a lack
of fire.
Speaker 6 (22:25):
Did no now the fire has been set and honestly,
on house people have been the wood used to burn
the fire.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Thanks so much to him for their account and for
showing up for the young House community. You can follow
the All Power Free clinic at the link in the description. Next,
I spoke to encampment resident Nelson on how the raids
impacted him and how he became on house. What's the
(22:57):
purpose of today's meeting for housing? What is precipitating you
guys making this urgent and mad the.
Speaker 7 (23:06):
Abuse we begained regarding for the weight of housing abuse
from cops, getting raided, getting our property taken away. I
had a trait told all my property, all my tools,
everything I have, just taking away like nothing.
Speaker 3 (23:27):
You mentioned tools are what do you do construction or something?
I'm a handyman and that helps you for your survivor correct? Correct,
Let's be back up. I didn't introduce who you are.
What's your day, Nelson Medow School. How long have you
been out here living in the streets.
Speaker 8 (23:46):
Since twenty nineteen or twenty nineteen?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (23:50):
How did you end up getting out here?
Speaker 7 (23:51):
In two nineteen, I got evicted from where I was
living due to the fact that my partner at that
time went through some health issues. She ended up reading
to her country and me by myself. I, you know,
couldn't keep up with the payments, couldn't keep up with
(24:13):
the bills, car notes, you know, et cetera, et cetera.
They need food, transportation, and you know that made me
end up in the street.
Speaker 3 (24:24):
Have anyone reached out to offer services to help you
get you back on your feet.
Speaker 7 (24:28):
Yeah, until this last two years, I've been working with
Homeless health Care Center. But before that, you know, I
tried many places and never got an answer. I started
living in my car. Then I lost my car, ended
up you know, being in a tent.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:46):
I've been getting help here and there from organizations like Locks,
Homeless Healthcare Center and you know others, and that's you know,
we're taking it from there.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
The issues that's going on now with the police and
Eunice is Hernandez. How did this start to intensify?
Speaker 7 (25:06):
It started with the police rading. He asked everybody to
come out. Boy, they actually didn't ask. They were just
you know, kicking everybody out, ripping tents, whatnot, just to
get everybody out.
Speaker 8 (25:17):
My encounter was.
Speaker 7 (25:19):
Getting a little bit more than physical while getting detained.
You know, I thought it was a riot when it
was supposed to be a sweep or a street cleaning.
My understanding to a street cleaning, as you know, one
officer or one patrol unit for the whole situation. But
we got about forty cops at five in the morning,
(25:45):
you know, just being harassed, being treated like a I
don't know, like we're really doing some type of crime.
Speaker 8 (25:53):
We got a zip tight to the back of our
hands and taken to a corner.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
You know, they continue doing their info information, trying to
check everybody out where had a warrant.
Speaker 8 (26:05):
They took them.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Uh, they were.
Speaker 7 (26:09):
Gonna take me, but then all of a sudden they
released me. So I didn't understand why after that, you know,
six point thirty was sweeping for the city and we
didn't have time to pick up whatever we have. I
have most of my belongings on the trader. I had
the missing wheels. They told me, yeah, get the missing
(26:31):
wheels or get some help or somebody to take that take.
Speaker 8 (26:34):
That trader out.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
But what they did was more work because they went
through my trader, threw everything out, my tools, my clothing,
My daddy is my daddy, belonging things and two that
I needed for work or whatnot, and so that created
more time taking away. I had fifteen minutes to get
somebody to pick up my trader, which he came maybe
(27:00):
twenty minutes, and then they say, you know what, too late,
it's gonna get told. I think it was more mostly
for a personal issue or just you know, Okay, I'm
a mess with this guy. And that's how I feel
because they told me yes at one point, didn't tell
(27:21):
me no. Now now I have nothing. All I had
was just the clothing on my on myself, no tense,
no nothing, but you know, the homeless, the organizations that
helped me, and they got us some tent.
Speaker 8 (27:37):
So that's how I started again.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
One of the questions I would have asked, because I
don't know if you've been seeing this is going on
as well as with the ice raids. Have you noticed
that there are Is there any difference between the LA
City coming in and sweeping you and the LA the
ice raates? Do you see Are they coming into your
en campus as well?
Speaker 7 (27:58):
No, I haven't seen ice and encampments, but their presence
is pretty pretty well known. They're they're around here. So
the way they do.
Speaker 8 (28:08):
It is just similar. I bey reave, just snatch and
grabs and let's go.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Are you worried that high school run up on you
if you have, if they are taking your things and
taking leaving you with only your clothes on your back,
are you worried that they are going to be able
to be targeted easier?
Speaker 8 (28:31):
No, I'm not worried about ice. Why not Wan citizens?
Speaker 1 (28:36):
They are taking people that are sisztens to.
Speaker 7 (28:38):
Yeah, No, I'm still not worried about that. You know,
I mean where else supposed to take me? If I
don't know, nobody else gone anywhere else?
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Thanks so much to Nelson.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Another community member, Yeah Bro brings the ring about them
to city and her lived experience.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Here's her story. What's your name, Deborah Williams, Debra? How
long have you been living in your car?
Speaker 4 (29:10):
Since way back whenny playing three?
Speaker 1 (29:12):
My first time? How did you get started living in
your car?
Speaker 9 (29:16):
The thing is I filed for because everybody lost their
job because of the COVID. Right then there's the EULA program.
I filed for the EULA program. But then my landlord,
you know, kind of like ignored the EULA.
Speaker 6 (29:29):
I was approved.
Speaker 9 (29:30):
Ready, she just needs to like, you know, sign everything
approved it the landlord, but she didn't. Then I tried
to get help from the county for legal aid, but
there's too busy, you know.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
So I wasn't able to get help and I got divicted.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I'm sorry to hear that. So what is the hardest
thing about living in your car?
Speaker 4 (29:48):
Well, of course, no sleep the hardest part. And I
have a dog with me.
Speaker 9 (29:53):
Easy to get a job, but the thing is it's
hard to where I'm going to put my dog. I
can't lock Lerry in the car, you know. So right
now I'm probably doing uber eats.
Speaker 4 (30:01):
So trying to make you know, a living, so hopefully
I can get a place to stay, you know, with.
Speaker 1 (30:07):
The high rents that's going on, and you're working uber eats.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
Okay, if someone was first starting out being out on
the streets, what's the first thing that you had to overcome?
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Fear of getting attacked? Yeah, I'm getting robbed.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
How did you How did you overcome that? What did
you do? What precautions you do?
Speaker 9 (30:24):
You need to be together with the other homeless, you
need to join forces, you know, your protect e shut.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
What do you think about the protests that's going on
right in front of you.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
Yeah, that's good. People will listen hopefully, Yeah, yeah, because
nobody visits to the homeless.
Speaker 3 (30:38):
Yeah, and this is one of the things that we're
trying to do is wake up the community. What's going on.
Have you been observing what's going on with ice Rays, Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:47):
I do.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
But the thing is they're trying to like get get
rid of the homelessness in the streets.
Speaker 9 (30:52):
But the thing is, it's not just supposed to be
the cops, you know, or the workers in the streets.
It's supposed to be a little bit together with the
DP says, because since they're the one who's trained social
workers to talk to the home, especially the mentally you know.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
So, but the thing is, it doesn't happen.
Speaker 9 (31:08):
It's just the police and the workers get the sanitaddy
like they don't.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Care about their stuff that get get.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
Out, you know.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Very true. Well, Deborah, I thank you for your time,
and again I hope you stay safe. Thanks so much
to Deborah.
Speaker 3 (31:27):
Finally, I caught up with the encampment resident Chad, who
brings his experience of living in the affected encampment for
the world to hear.
Speaker 10 (31:37):
Hi, how's it going, what's your day? Chance Sherwin.
Speaker 1 (31:41):
It's the Sherwin. What it's been going on? You've been
living on the streets, right, Yeah, unfortunately for a while. Now.
How long have you been out here?
Speaker 10 (31:48):
It's been off and on for six years.
Speaker 11 (31:51):
However, I've been kind of back and forth from housing,
temporary housing to jail. I had temporary housing for a while,
like about a year and a half, and then I
was out on the street somewhere walking and I got
pulled over and apparently I had a warrant that it
(32:11):
was a reopened case.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
It was just a.
Speaker 11 (32:15):
I stole something from Target or something from Orange County
and they, I guess, they reopened the case and I
wasn't expected to be reopened. I went to court and
all that, but since it was reopened, I still had
a warrant. So I got sent to jail and it
was like two months or something. And when I got out,
they unfortunately took my room over but I called numerous
(32:36):
times and the hotel never answered. It's like they didn't
really want to answer the phone.
Speaker 1 (32:42):
So what's been going on over in Mountain View.
Speaker 10 (32:46):
Well, it's been like maybe two weeks ago.
Speaker 11 (32:50):
There was a raid at our initial establishment where we
had like maybe fifteen tents, and we've been living there
on enough or like I say, almost six months, maybe
a little longer, and the cops they decided to come
through instead of the initial sweep. Now sweep is where
they take all the trash and everything out from the
(33:12):
area and push it aside and clean it up while
we take our tents and things and move them off
of the property. But what happened is we were ready
to pull the tents away and take them to the
other road, where the officers came through thirteen to twenty
deep and ripped a hole in the tarps and said
get on the floor, blah blah blah.
Speaker 10 (33:32):
They tried to arrest numerous people.
Speaker 11 (33:35):
I think they did arrest like three or four of us,
and they checked everybody for warrants. Mind you, we weren't
doing anything wrong, like at all. We didn't do We
weren't doing anything, and they said we were in fraction
of a municipapal code.
Speaker 10 (33:47):
Or something on a new law. But I really don't
think we were.
Speaker 11 (33:51):
I think I spoke to said we were actually in
playing legal boundaries to do with DISO. So I don't
know why they decided to do what they did, Yeah,
I was going.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
To act you because they're like, why all of this escalation.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Forty one eighteen has been out for a while and
mostly if not been enforced because of the backlash and
then to what's going on with the ice detention and
all the raids.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
The law enforcement has been occupied. So what started them
to all of a sudden stare it to be much
more aggressive.
Speaker 11 (34:19):
I'm thinking they're taking the next approach, like there's a
they have this all planned out since day one, so
they know what they're doing, and I think they are
just following their timelines necessarily, and something to do with
you know, the the Olympics and all that. They're trying
to get this place cleaned up, which is understandable. But
we don't need to go to jail and be thrown
(34:39):
about and taking all our stuff away, you know. We
just need to be placed into temporary housing so we
can get our licenses or IDs and get permanent housing,
just like you know, Section eight has been around for years,
you know, so that's what.
Speaker 10 (34:51):
We're trying to do.
Speaker 11 (34:51):
But in the meantime, all we're asking for is temporary housing,
which is like a hotel stay, you know, It's not
like hotels are the best location as it is, you know,
that's still the bottom of the food chain living.
Speaker 10 (35:02):
So it's sad that they won't even offer that to
their citizens of the community.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
So what are the next steps to getting them to
get their attention.
Speaker 11 (35:12):
Well, we're standing out here on sixth Street doing a
rally or a protest, I don't know what you call it,
but we're in front of the councilwoman's office. I'm not
exactly sure of her name off the top of my head,
Hernandez Unice is Hernandez. Yeah, And we're basically just standing
up for what we believe in, trying to get us
housing and this. You know, there's, like I said, about
(35:34):
thirteen thirteen or so people that really have been out
here for a long time, and some of them suffer
from mental illnesses. We've seen numerous assaults and things like
that on the street that are just not meant to
see all the time. And it's not like we're in war,
you know, So it's just this tragic the amount of
bloodshed we've seen on these streets. It's just because we're
(35:55):
on the streets so long, you know, that we see
things that we shouldn't have. But yeah, we're trying to
get initial housing over here, just temporary stuff.
Speaker 10 (36:04):
That's all we need.
Speaker 3 (36:06):
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk
with us. Is there anything what you'd like to send
about situe unites?
Speaker 11 (36:14):
Just see the amount of effort we're trying to put
forth in just getting temporary housing. You know, that's that's
way insane compared to the most people that are just
sitting around that you guys offer the temporary housing to.
You know, we're trying super hard to get this and
we'll leave. You know, we have no problem just being
(36:35):
ghosts about the whole situation, you know, just going away
and starting our normal life again. But I really think
you should take a step back and do what you
can for as many people as you can at the time.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
But you can well, thank you again.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
You heard it yourself from the residents that are living
on the streets. Treat them like adults, give them dignify,
take the temporary housing until the situation could become long term,
and they're you have it. Thank you to Chad and
again to everyone who spoke to me at the conference.
This is a developing story that will require updates. We'll
(37:11):
share more information as it becomes available. Finally, thank you
for listening in If you have a story you'd like
to share or raise you have witnessed that need to
be highlighted, please reach out to me at Whedianhouse at
gmail dot com or whedian House on Instagram. Until then,
(37:32):
may we again meet in the light of understanding. Whedian
House is a production of iHeartRadio. It is written, hosted,
and created by me Theo Henderson, our producers Jamie Loftus,
Hailey Fager, Katie Fischel, and Lyra Smith. Our editor is
Adam Want, our engineer is Joel Jerome, and our local
(37:55):
art is also by Katie Fisher.
Speaker 1 (37:58):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 5 (38:00):
Can you d you you
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