As activists from the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, and other local organizations hurried to move unhoused community members from a homeless camp Tuesday, several pulled up in Tesla electric cars to charge on the east side of the Fresh Thyme organic grocery store Tuesday on West Third Street.
Unhoused residents living at the camp told the Bloomingtonian Tuesday, October 4, 2022 that three members of the Bloomington Police Department, one member of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and a person they couldn’t identify dressed in white, showed up around 2 p.m. to immediately evict people at the camp. The law enforcement representatives allegedly told them they were trespassing on the land.
Campers at the site said they were able to negotiate a 5 p.m. deadline to remove their possessions, but were told if they were not gone by then, they would be arrested.
Activists and community helpers, who often work with the unhoused community to move them, were parked in the lot as volunteers and residents of the camp carried items from the forest and piled them into pick up trucks, jeeps, and any vehicle with space.
It is a scene that has occurred over and over again in Bloomington since at least 2015, as one homeless camp after another has been cleared, and residents are told to move along.
Cedric Thompkins, 59-years-old, who said he’s been unhoused since June 3rd, and has been homeless several other times in the past, said he didn’t know what he’d do, as the driver of a Tesla charged his car at a charging station in the background.
Thompkins said he didn’t understand why the unhoused residents of the camp were being evicted with so little notice on Tuesday, and he couldn’t understand what they had done wrong to deserve it.
It’s getting more difficult to be homeless in Bloomington, said Thompkins who was trying to pull what he could in a shopping cart behind a bicycle. We don’t have anywhere to go, said Thompkins.
As the sun started to drop behind the horizon, Thompkins grew impatient with another unhoused man who was trying to pull two carts behind another bicycle.
Once that sun goes down, it’s gonna get cold tonight, hurry up, Thompkins told the other man, who said he is a military veteran who served two tours in Iraq.
Editor’s note: The Bloomingtonian will ask the Bloomington Police Department their side of the story at the next media briefing Wednesday morning at 11 a.m.
Photo description:
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – OCTOBER 4: Cedric Thompkins, who has been homeless since June 2022, pulls his possessions in a shopping cart past a car at a Tesla charging station on October 4, 2022 in Bloomington, Indiana. Thompkins said he doesn’t know where he will go after residents of the nearby homeless camp, where he was living, were evicted by the police. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan/The Bloomingtonian)
As activists from the Bloomington Homeless Coalition, and other local organizations hurried to move unhoused community members from a homeless camp Tuesday, several pulled up in Tesla electric cars to charge on the east side of the Fresh Thyme organic grocery store Tuesday on West Third Street.
Unhoused residents living at the camp told the Bloomingtonian Tuesday, October 4, 2022 that three members of the Bloomington Police Department, one member of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, and a person they couldn’t identify dressed in white, showed up around 2 p.m. to immediately evict people at the camp. The law enforcement representatives allegedly told them they were trespassing on the land.
Campers at the site said they were able to negotiate a 5 p.m. deadline to remove their possessions, but were told if they were not gone by then, they would be arrested.
Activists and community helpers, who often work with the unhoused community to move them, were parked in the lot as volunteers and residents of the camp carried items from the forest and piled them into pick up trucks, jeeps, and any vehicle with space.
It is a scene that has occurred over and over again in Bloomington since at least 2015, as one homeless camp after another has been cleared, and residents are told to move along.
Cedric Thompkins, 59-years-old, who said he’s been unhoused since June 3rd, and has been homeless several other times in the past, said he didn’t know what he’d do, as the driver of a Tesla charged his car at a charging station in the background.
Thompkins said he didn’t understand why the unhoused residents of the camp were being evicted with so little notice on Tuesday, and he couldn’t understand what they had done wrong to deserve it.
It’s getting more difficult to be homeless in Bloomington, said Thompkins who was trying to pull what he could in a shopping cart behind a bicycle. We don’t have anywhere to go, said Thompkins.
As the sun started to drop behind the horizon, Thompkins grew impatient with another unhoused man who was trying to pull two carts behind another bicycle.
Once that sun goes down, it’s gonna get cold tonight, hurry up, Thompkins told the other man, who said he is a military veteran who served two tours in Iraq.
Editor’s note: The Bloomingtonian will ask the Bloomington Police Department their side of the story at the next media briefing Wednesday morning at 11 a.m.
