DC officials began to clear encampments near the Kennedy Center on Wednesday. The action follows White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s announcement on Tuesday that people experiencing homelessness would “be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services,” and if they refuse, could be fined or arrested.
In this case, it was DC officials who conducted the encampment closure, according to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, the DC agency that typically clears encampments. The camp was visible from the route President Trump took to visit the Kennedy Center to announce his choices for the Kennedy Center Honors on Wednesday. It was also not listed on the website DC usually uses to record closures.
DC officials tagged tents near Rock Creek Parkway on Wednesday notifying residents of a closure Thursday morning at 10 AM. The tents were in the same location that Trump posted photos of on his way to play golf over the weekend. He captioned the photos by writing,“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY.” At a live-streamed community chat Tuesday night before the clearings began, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said that seeing such encampments “triggers something” in Trump.
David Beatty, one of the encampment’s seven residents, was packing up his stuff Thursday morning. “They have authorized campgrounds,” he says, holding a rolled-up tent. “The only difference is this isn’t an officially authorized campground.” Beatty also says closure feels like “persecution.” When I asked him if he knew where he would go, he shook his head.
Right now, DC has around 60 encampments and according to the most recent Point-in-Time count around 700 single adults in the District reported they were sleeping outside. Shelter capacity is always fluctuating in the city, but according to the most recent shelter capacity report on August 12, there are 13 beds open for single adult men and nine open for single adult women. Those figures might not fully reflect recently opened beds, and the city says it’s prepared to make more beds available if needed.
Outreach workers who provide food, shelter, and case management services to people experiencing homelessness have also said their clients have been having increased interactions with local and federal law enforcement—which concerns them given the White House’s threat to arrest or fine people for sleeping outside.
Claire Wilson, the Executive Director of Georgetown Ministry Center, a day center in the Georgetown area, said she informally surveyed guests on Tuesday about their experiences. She says out of the 50 people she spoke with 20 reported either witnessing enforcement or being approached by law enforcement. “The most common interaction was a request to show ID and a verbal warning,” she tells Washingtonian.
In a press release, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless reminded DC residents experiencing homelessness that they retain their same legal and constitutional rights to be free of unlawful search and seizure.
“Arresting people for no reason other than the fact that they have no home is inhumane and unjust,” Amber W. Harding, executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless said in the release. “It is particularly cruel to do so knowing that federal and local housing programs have been slashed and that DC does not have enough shelter beds.”
