City workers are scheduled to perform a sweep there today, August 24, between 7 and 10 a.m. in response to "significant public health and safety concerns," according to the mayor's office. A shooting occurred on the 1700 block of Logan on August 21; at least two victims were reported.
People living in the nearby encampment believe they're being used as scapegoats.
"We had nothing to do with the shooting," says a woman named Sara, who declined to give her last name. "Some of us — there are several people here who were actually shot — [were] victims of the shooting, and they're saying we have to leave because we're the dangerous ones. We look out for each other here, we have pregnant women here. Some people take turns being bodyguards, looking out for us."
The city initially gave encampment residents less than 24 hours' notice to pack up and be gone, with a deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 23. The deadline was later pushed back to August 24 after support groups started voicing their outrage online.
"This planned sweep should be canceled immediately, and other actions should be taken to support residents of this camp dealing with the trauma of a shooting and the need for stability and resources," said Housekeys Action Network Denver, a local nonprofit. "Let this encampment be and instead bring them lighting, or trash receptacle, or bathrooms and water, or therapists, or other useful support."
According to Johnston's office, "The city makes decisions about encampments based on specific facts and circumstances. In response to significant public health and safety concerns at 17th and Logan on Monday, August 21, we are proceeding with an emergency closure of this encampment."
The mayor made promises at the beginning of his term that his administration would not conduct sweeps except in cases of public health or safety emergencies. Instead, he said, he would only "decommission" camps when his administration had a place to shelter those displaced from encampments.
Today's sweep is Johnston's second during his administration; the first was three weeks ago at 22nd and Stout streets. The mayor has acknowledged that the city does not have a place where these people can be relocated.
At 17th and Logan, people recognize this problem and say they'll likely just move to nearby encampments after today's sweep. "Everybody is going to 16th and Grant," says Arthur, who has been living on the 1700 block of Logan for more than a month. "They're packed like sardines."
Pedro Navarro, a resident who lives out of his car and moves to different spots, tells Westword that proximity is key when deciding where to post up after a city sweep. "Every time they kick them out, they like to stay in the same area," he says.
Johnston has vowed to take at least 1,000 people off Denver's streets and put them into housing by the end of the year. But first, he's going to have to find places where they can go — and stat, according to the area's homeless.
"There's not any room over there," says a man who goes by the nickname "Win," adding that Denver Police Department officers instructed him and at least two other men to move to an encampment at 16th Avenue and Sherman Street.
"They've got all the spots under the shade, and the whole thing is on a hill," Win says. "[But] they don't have any more flat ground where to set up."
Two residents of the homeless encampment near 17th Avenue and Logan Street who asked not to be identified talk while cleaning out their tents.
Bennito L. Kelty
Arthur, meanwhile, says the encampment "is cooler, it's cleaner," and "we've been here a while, so the community, everybody kind of knows each other — and even if they don't know each other, they see each other every day."
He adds, "It's calm."
The city is supposed to be providing "referrals to shelter resources, both written and verbal for unhoused individuals at this encampment," according to Johnston's office. DPD officers came by the past two days to hand out notices that the encampments were going to be swept. The city's decision to move the date back was described as "an effort to give people living in the encampment additional time to plan their next steps."
People living there say they felt hopeless when given the first notice.
"Twenty-four hours wasn't enough time," says one resident named Dustin, who has been living at the camp for a month and a half. "It wasn't enough notice."
Asked whether having an extra day even made a difference, he tells Westword: "It sure didn't help. I don't know where I'm going yet. I still don't know where I'm going."
On Wednesday, Dustin was spotted folding up his tent and supplies — water bottles, paper towels, pretzels, tuna cans and tissue boxes — and putting them into a gray trash bin with wheels. He says he's been in sweeps before and has formed a strategy.
"We kind of get close, and then when they do sweeps, we all kind of stick together and we all just move onto the next spot," Dustin says.
A veteran named Kevin Anderson, who's been staying at the encampment for about a month, says that "waiting for something to come up" in terms of housing — as part of Johnston's "homeless resolution" plan — has been "putting a lot of stress" on him.
"I got a friend that stays here, and it was pretty quiet around here for a while," he explains. "It's a lot cleaner, even though we don't have the porta-potties like they've got downtown. It's still fairly cleaner than the ones that do have those."
Anderson isn't too concerned about moving his stuff. "I only got two book bags," he says. "The rest of my stuff already got stolen. That's the only thing I got left to my name."
About sixteen tents were still set up near 17th and Logan yesterday. "They gave us a notice saying we had too many structures — that we had 44 or 46 illegal structures or tents," says Sara, who has lived at the encampment for about three weeks. "The people from the city must have just looked at things like a tarp thrown over a bike and counted it as a structure. But they're trying to make it sound like we have more tents or structures or whatever out here than we actually do."
In the middle of speaking, Sara looked back at the camp from where she was standing and started to vent.
"Sorry if I'm rambling, but I just get so heated about this," she says. "It's just they're saying we're a problem because of something we didn't do, when we're one of the more better-kept camps out here."
