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Denounce the Cruel Coral Street Sweeps

by Keith McHenry
The largest police sweep I have witnessed on Coral Street and the area around the Housing Matters homeless shelter. The State of California gave Santa Cruz a $4 million Homeless Encampment Resolution Grant to make clear the area. It is going to be 40 degrees tonight and many of these people lost most or all of their survival gear. Someone is likely to die of the cold this evening as a direct result of this sweep.
The largest police sweep I have witnessed on Coral Street and the area around the Housing Matters homeless shelter. The State of Californ...
Coral Street was blocked off since early in the morning according to people who were there. People sleeping between the fence and Housing Matters wall were also being pushed out with no where to go.

Food Not Bombs provided over $500 worth of sleeping bags and cheap pup tents this weekend.

I was arrested while filming the sweep and donating pastries. In Santa Cruz the police take those they arrest to the hospital on the way to jail if you are 60 years old. While at Dominican an unhoused friend Matt was wheeled in. Several men from the Santa Cruz Sheriffs Department brought in people as well. My arresting officer and the other sheriffs talked about how well the sweep was going.

For the city to take people's survival gear knowing that it will be 40 degrees or lower is cruel and inhumane. The seaside dampness makes the cold even more miserable and deadly. It is bad enough that people will be suffering tonight but even more tragic is the possibility that someone may die of the cold. The CHP reported that they found a dead man in a tent on Highway One this morning.

I was released from jail around 8:30 tonight. A new jailer was being taught the ropes and wow are there a lot of new steps to the booking process. He was very nice and his instructor was a great guy. Not into cops but this happened to be reality.

I think I was charged with failure to obey and ordered to appear in court.

Denounce these cruel sweeps.

Mayor Fred Keeley
fkeeley [at] santacruzca.gov
Matt Huffaker, City Manager
mhuffaker [at] santacruzca.gov
Lisa Murphy, Deputy City Manager
lmurphy [at] santacruzca.gov
Larry Imwalle, Homelessness Response Manager
limwalle [at] santacruzca.gov

HOUSING MATTERS
Phil Kramer
pkramer [at] housingmatterssc.org
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by Keith McHenry
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by Keith McHenry
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by Keith McHenry
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§Video Leading Up to Arrest
by Keith McHenry
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
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Me Myself & I
Tue, Jan 28, 2025 6:16AM
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