Hundreds met outside of Echo Park in Los Angeles, California to protest the planned mass removal of a large scale homeless camp by police. Early Thursday morning, L.A. City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell announced that Echo Park had been closed to pedestrian traffic, saying police were planning to clear out the homeless camps because Echo Park had “devolved into a very dangerous place for everyone there.” Protestors say the forced and sudden evictions amount to criminalizing poverty, as homeless people who had made the camp their home will soon see their homes, possessions and even pets confiscated by police.
Though a statement from the LAPD said the protests were “largely peaceful,” videos posted to social media showed tense standoffs between protestors and police as the city attempted to install fencing around the lake.
YALL ITS GOING DOWN IN ECHO PARK pic.twitter.com/T1zUDUoBkE
— People's City Council – Los Angeles (@PplsCityCouncil) March 25, 2021
LAPD showed up to Echo Park Lake tonight ready for war. Truly despicable behavior from @MitchOFarrell – foreseeably subjecting his constituents to brutal abuse from the cops.
— People's City Council – Los Angeles (@PplsCityCouncil) March 25, 2021
Echo Park community members were pushed back by 400 LAPD cops in riot gear with batons.
Families are being violently evicted in the middle of the night by @MitchOFarrell. He has failed the city of Los Angeles and he has failed the community. #EchoParkRiseUp pic.twitter.com/5JjXqxgS1I
— Chad Loder (@chadloder) March 25, 2021
Police say the fencing was being erected at night but nobody was forcefully evicted over night. The Echo Park Tent Community released a statement of their own, condemning the city’s lack of compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic and calling on O’Farrell to either “please continue to leave us alone or stand with us.”
“Stand in solidarity with all your constituents, not just those with money and housing,” the statement continued. “And watch us as we make sure District 13 becomes a beacon of light for the world.”
Please read and share this the statement written by the residents of Echo Park lake. It's truly remarkable. pic.twitter.com/fQlPoNOcxP
— End State Violence 🇵🇷🌹 (@AlmostKelvin) March 23, 2021
In January of 2020, the City of Los Angeles made a similar attempt to clear Echo Park out, but efforts were hamstrung by organized activism. “What we learned last year when we fought is that the vast majority of people get it, they get it, they get that they could be in this situation, that that could be your mother or your brother,” Ayman Ahmed with Echo Park Rises Up told CBSLA. “And they support us.”
