3.25.21. Los Angeles
Last night LAPD set up what residents have called "an open air concentration camp" and likened to an outdoor prison, by fencing in a tent community in Echo Park Lake. Councilman O'Farrell has deployed LAPD to enclose unhoused people in Echo Lake Park with the intention of evicting them tonight, despite massive resistance to the evictions earlier in the day. The councilman gave only a few days notice about the evictions and lied about offering housing to every person living in the park.
Los Angeles county has promised over 48,000 rooms for temporarily house unhoused residents. Over the past few months, it's housed people in only 1,724 rooms. This number has decreased this year despite FEMA now reimbursing 100% of the city's costs.
