A homeless encampment near the Kennedy Center was bulldozed by city crews on Thursday morning, just days after President Donald Trump federalized D.C. police and deployed the National Guard to combat the high levels of crime in the city.
Homeless people living in this area were given a day’s notice to pack up their things and leave, Fox 5 reported. The city also provided local volunteers to help people pack and made both shelter and storage available.
Typically, clearing notices are posted 14 days in advance, the Washington Post reported, but Rebecca Dooley, a spokesperson for the deputy mayor for health and human services, told the Post that because of the encampment’s proximity to the highway, only a 24-hour notice is required.
The clearing comes after a Truth Social post from the president on Monday, declaring the homelessness problem in D.C. as something the administration will continue to tackle.
“The Homeless have to move out IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt touched on the homelessness issue in Tuesday’s White House Press Briefing.
“Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services, and if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time,” Leavitt said.
Back in March, the president signed an executive order titled “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful,” and since, U.S. Park Police has removed 70 encampments in the D.C. area, Leavitt said during the briefing.
“America’s capital must be a place in which residents, commuters, and tourists feel safe at all hours, including on public transit,” the executive order reads. “Its highways, boulevards, and parks should be clean, well-kept, and pleasant.”
Homelessness has persisted as a major issue in D.C., with the city continuing to rank high amongst cities in the U.S. that suffer from the worst homelessness.
Recent counts reveal that there are currently 5,100 homeless people living in D.C. This translates to around 80 people per 10,000 residents that are considered homeless in the greater D.C. area. This number is second to only Hawaii, which counted 80.5 people per 10,000.
As of the press conference on Tuesday, last two homeless encampments on federal property are set to be cleared this week, Leavitt said.
Leavitt cited D.C. Code 22-1307 and D.C. municipal regulation 24-100 as two rules that allow the Metro Police Department to engage in clearing the encampments and fixing the homelessness problem throughout the city.