Thread by @jenvanlaar

Some facts abt what's happening in #EchoPark.🧵

1. The city has a $500M reno project scheduled for the PUBLIC SPACE.
2. ⬆️This is not a random "eviction."
3. In 1/2020 StreetWatch LA+DSA blocked a cleanup of the crime-ridden encampment, emboldening them
abc7.com/echo-park-home…

4. For the past 3 days homeless service providers have been at Echo Park Lake offering services thru Project Roomkey/Homekey.
5. Many of the residents have rejected services.
6. Mitch O'Farrell's ofc has already placed 100 ppl who were living at lake into safe housing/shelter

7. More than 4,000 Echo Park residents (not the homeless) signed a petition asking O'Farrell to find housing for all homeless ppl at #EchoParkLake and for the city to clean up the park so all can enjoy it
8. Violent crime, sexual assault, and drug OD's/dealing are rampant

9. Open-flame cooking, banned by muni code, is rampant. There’s electricity being siphoned from city streetlights to power microwaves, personal sandwich grills+more. There’s a gas generator running a freezer and refrigerator inside one tent at the north end, according to LA Mag

10. Cocaine and fentanyl use is pervasive; an 18-yr-old visiting from SD reportedly OD'd in Aug and it took 3 days before anyone noticed she was dead
11. It looks like a commune but is ruled w/an iron fist, community rules enforced by thuggish ex-cons lamag.com/mag-features/e…

12. Since COVID lockdowns started, the park's sprinkler system has been destroyed, expansive "lawns became denuded, park signs and benches were defaced, and the rat population exploded," and residents watched as buckets full of human waste were dumped into the lake.

13. One resident says, "The noise never quits. There are fights, yelling, music almost around the clock."

If DSA, StreetWatch LA, and BLM really cared about these ppl, they'd suggest they accept the offer of supportive housing. But they don't.