Advocates, some in vans, others on foot, helped dozens and dozens of people living in tents scramble to save some of their possessions. Clusters of construction workers and coffee mug holding police watched. A woman tried to start her RV but it stalled. A man pushed his bike with two carts attached to its bike but one of them collapsed under the weight of tarps and full backpacks.
Elmo, with a red beard, and a long whip “to relieve stress”, felt it had been a “trap” all along for local officials to allow and even encourage people to stay here for weeks. Last week, as the new Nevada Cares campus opened, sweeps began in earnest first on the western side of the Wells Ave. overpass. Tuesday morning, a firetruck, city cars and a bulldozer rolled into the much more crowded easter section.
“They pushed everyobdy here, and now they are making everybody move,” he said. He wished there were more dumpsters, “and just leave the homeless alone. We are not doing anything wrong. Just because we don’t have a house doesn’t mean we are bad people,”
He said he hoped to get into housing again soon, but would go hide at a secret location. He felt the new massive shelter was too crammed, and felt too stressful.
