PHOTO/SARAH MENEFEE
SAN FRANCISCO — So now I’m a criminal. My crime is poverty and being homeless. I’m a wanted man in San Francisco. Or to put it more accurately, the city doesn’t want me, or thousands like me.
San Francisco’s city government and their police force are waging war on the homeless. This is how it’s being done.
The Sit-Lie law is their primary daytime weapon against the homeless. No sitting or lying down between the hours of 7am and 11pm. This is discriminatory and a violation of our rights. There is no equal protection here. SFPD targets the homeless while the housed are allowed to sit just feet away. SFPD also targets protesters such as OccupySF occupiers. The exemptions exist only for the housed. Look up Prop L for the law and its exemptions.
The state’s illegal lodging law is 647e. SFPD will use this to wake you up repeatedly throughout the night. The SFPD will confiscate everything you own as “evidence of lodging.” The law clearly states “without the permission of the owner,” so how is it SFPD is issuing tickets to people sleeping on the public sidewalk?
The other major problem is the Department of Public Works using very dangerous chemicals in the areas the homeless sleep. The warning labels clearly state the chemicals are not to be used in inhabited areas. Reactions that I and others have experienced are extreme breathing issues and vomiting. This is during or immediately after sidewalk spraying.
Going into a shelter is even worse. You will be forced to sit in a chair for days until a bed opens up. Once you get a bed you will get head and body lice and bed bugs, and are exposed to MRSA staph infections and perhaps TB. The SROs are no better. Many are dangerous and not up to code.
So your choice is to get sick, tortured, abused, be criminalized, or leave.
San Francisco seems to be leading the nation in the torture and inhumane treatment of its poor. The SFPD does not believe in following the laws. They instead enforce the policy of driving the homeless out.
Mike Zint is a long-time organizer with OccupySF and of the Sit-Lie (pictured) and other actions in the Occupy the Sidewalks and the ‘First They Came for the Homeless’ campaigns.
