Bulldozers kill man in tent in Atlanta clearing homeless camp near MLK’s church
The city was clearing the area around the Ebenezer Baptist church before the MLK Day celebration on Monday
I don't even know what to do with myself, reading this. It's so fucking nightmarish. Why do we allow this hell to continue? That man should have been in a warm, safe bed. And he could have been if we didn't hate our own people so much.
Stoping this hell requires people to get off the Internet and possibly put themselves in harms way, or risk their livelihoods. Until people want a better life for their fellow man more than they want comfort for themselves, nothing will change.
Personally, I just don't see that happening in America.
They had been trying to get them to shelter
Historically, the city sends social workers and outreach teams to encampments over a period of months before issuing a final order to evacuate. Those teams work to place people in shelters and, ultimately, permanently housing.
The city had been working with people at the encampment since April and had placed many into shelters, said Cathryn Vassell, CEO of the city’s homelessness organization Partners for Home. Atlanta announced an investment of $60m in new public funding – the largest amount in city history – to address homelessness last year.
I agree, but, I don't think you read the whole article? They were helping them move to shelters, and had relocated many. The social workers were familiar with the man who was killed, and we can probably assume they didn't know he was there when the bulldozers came through.
Wow bulldozers did that all by themselves?
BuLlDoZeRs dOnT kIlL pEoPlE
PeOpLe KiLl PeOpLe
Ban assault bulldozers!
Call your representative. Make open carry your bulldozer legal!
And to think we still can't get decent self driving cars!
Maybe someone forgot the parking break.
Here's a couple ideas for dealing with the housing crisis situation, one of the primary causes of the homeless issues in the first place. Since all we ever seem to do is fail at handling symptoms instead of of causes.
But none of this will happen. Because the oligarchs have their money invested in real estate holdings that don't move or get and use, so they require little to no maintenance. It's a large reason why half of NYC looks like a shit hole with boarded up retail spots for decades while a cupboard under the stars costs $1800/mo to rent.
Abolishing parking minimums, and, in fact, establishing parking maximums, would be a great, easy, and inexpensive step for most cities in the US. You literally can't build dense walkable places like old main streets anymore because of zoning codes and (chiefly) parking minimums. If you're like me, you probably assumed that these codes had their feet in good reasons for existing, but they actually don't. Parking minimums are often based on numbers that are essentially snatched out of thin air and not evidence-based, and many other cities simply copy what other cities are doing. Aggressive exclusionary zoning often has its feet in racism, and it's a big reason why only US cities seem to experience urban decay. This is something you can change! Go to your city council meetings, network with people there! Go to your city planning board meetings, read your city's zoning laws, and go give them very specific shit about it! These offices are infinitely more accessible and responsive than state and federal legislators, and you might be surprised to find that some of them even agree with you! It doesn't take much effort, it's pretty much free, and the cops can't stop you!
How about we just build apartments?
"Just build" only helps the developers who get to build and thus profit more. They'll just build luxury condos and "investment properties" since that's the most profitable.
There's more expensive housing units sitting empty than there are unhoused people. The problem isn't a lack of housing, it's a lack of AFFORDABLE housing. That and it's WAY too easy for landlords to evict people.
Of course nobody has been arrested or charged. Manslaughter? Murder? Come on, at least reckless endangerment? Not if the victim is homeless and the perp is the state, fuck no.
I swear bro, we're going to fix homelessness, just give me one more dozer sweep, bro, I swear it'll work this time, bro I promise we won't kill someone again, please, just one more dozer sweep it's got to work this time
This isn't even the first time something like this has happened. To my knowledge, this exact same thing happened in Modesto a few years ago. I sincerely doubt those are the only two. Dozer sweeps aren't cheap, either; I'm pretty sure the city could just house these folks for whatever they're paying to do the sweep. This is purely about flexing on our most vulnerable population.
What better way to honor the reverend's legacy than by bulldozing some poors.
It's what Jesus would've wanted /s
All a part of God's plan
Thou shalt bulldoze thy neighbor to keep the Sabbath holy.
Seems like America has given up on any illusions of upholding human rights.
The GOP are sending those back to the individual states so they can decide.
No they're not. Don't buy that bullshit. There may be a couple (relatively unimportant) issues that they leave to the states, like cannabis legalization, so it looks like they're doing this. But in reality, they will use the federal government as a cudgel against states that do things they don't like.
They're already talking about making aid to CA wildfires conditional. These people have no ethics, no scruples, and lack basic empathy.
It wouldn't be American if it low key didn't. They're reaching for the high keys, though.
They needed a bulldozer to take down a few tents? They couldn't just hire a few folks to deconstruct the area? What the fuck.
A handful of underpaid city staffers gently disassembling your home don't send the same message that 200 tons of steel and diesel barreling through it does.
Is this a new way of dying that's only possible in the USA?
Nah, death by bulldozer shows up in any modern industrialized country that really wants some people out of the way. For instance.
She wasn't in a homeless tent, and saying that people also get bulldozed in warzones isn't really the same thing.
The US routinely kill the unprofitable.
Achievement get! New death unlocked.
It does give off a "regional exclusive" energy.
Great passive voice: "Bulldozer did a bad thing". Someone should hold that Bulldozer accountable.
They should've used the Yoda voice. "Bad thing, bulldozers did." Rookies smh
I get what you're saying but this is just the way to write it, everyone understands that's the bulldozer itself is an innocent victim too
It was just following orders.
Did the Atlanta city workers get training from the IDF?
Bell Riots were supposed to be last year
The Temporal Wars threw a–
You know what? It's not even worth it. This is truly horrifying.
Really thought this was going to be a dark onion piece
There are no more dark onions. It's now real life. 🙃
Fuck this. If anyone deserves to die in the souless arseholes in charge who let this happen.
This is like that cop that ran over and killed a homeless person while shortcutting through a park 🤡 madness.
Yeah, I get it. Tents are really hard to get rid of. You have to use a bulldozer.
I think Georgia did this on purpose
my thoughts and prayers to the family of the deceased
So you're saying nothing really to cover your ass against the impending lawsuit
Hopefully he was having a good dream
And that his sleep was not disturbed. Simply didn't wake up from his perspective.
Fuck this is awful...
Republicans want this
