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Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Homeless residents sue US city

May 10 2012
Twelve plainfiffs allege their personal property was unlawfully taken when their camp was levelled

 

Homeless people in California are suing the government after their property was lost during the demolition of a tent city. Twelve former residents of a homeless encampment in the city of Fresno have filed lawsuits against the City on the grounds that personal property was unlawfully taken as the camp was levelled.

The settlement, home to around 1,000 people, was bulldozed in October and now a group of former residents have taken a stand.

One of the nine lawsuits filed in the US District Court in Fresno said: “It may just be a tent or sleeping bag to you, but the reality is this was their shelter and it provided them safety, and privacy from the cold, rain and freezing temperatures.

“We’re human beings and we feel just like everybody else does.”

It is claimed that in addition to shelters and tents, warm clothing and irreplaceable personal items were also destroyed.

One of the suits also point out how the City chose to begin its demolition of tents and shelters just at the start of winter began.

In 2008 the City of Fresno paid a $2.3million lawsuit for destroying the property of homeless people who had their belongings discarded in street sweeps.

The City, which cleared the encampment on the grounds that it was a health and safety hazard, say some property was stored.

Around 2,000 people are homeless in Fresno, a city with a population of half a million.

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