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Duluth is Fining Homeless Folks for Being Homeless

"An old friend of mine showed me a ticket and citation for violating Duluth’s new camping law that allows the police to issue a ticket for a fine — or jail time if the fine is not paid. He was told he had to pay $250 in fines and had to leave where he was staying near the sailboat sculpture at the foot of Mesaba Avenue. He was not the only one staying there; others were ticketed as well. They moved to another location and are tired of continuously having to find a place to stay."

I have witnessed what appears to be the beginning of a local, modern-day civil war, which is very dangerous. When people become collectively battered enough, they will fight back against the government because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The homeless people in Duluth claim the local city government is tyrannical, and there are sharp accusations being made based in fear.

All homeless people are not the same, yet many people assume we are. Because of the unknown and because people are afraid of what may be true, fear kicks into the “fight, flight, and freeze” syndrome. Meanwhile, city officials seem to rule on the side of caution and assume the worst. They seem to view homeless people as dirty, lazy bums on drugs. They too often see us as very dangerous. They are afraid of the homeless, like a child is afraid of monsters.

An old friend of mine showed me a ticket and citation for violating Duluth’s new camping law that allows the police to issue a ticket for a fine — or jail time if the fine is not paid. He was told he had to pay $250 in fines and had to leave where he was staying near the sailboat sculpture at the foot of Mesaba Avenue. He was not the only one staying there; others were ticketed as well. They moved to another location and are tired of continuously having to find a place to stay.

They are constantly stressed knowing that the police will scramble through their location and force them to evacuate. They do not offer a safe place, and the police inflict emotional trauma on these individuals who are simply trying to survive any way they can. These are peoples' mothers, fathers, sisters, or brothers; some are children.

What has the beautiful city of Duluth become? Are we not all human? The first priority here for a mature society should be to care for its wounded. Our relatives are hurting and have nowhere to exist while they try to get a job or get assistance. Citations do not work, and no one being ticketed can afford to pay a fine of $250. The payment becomes a prison, a debtors’ prison, and will cost taxpayers a pretty penny.

>> The article above was written by Karl Easterday.  Karl was formerly homeless himself.  The photo used in this article was also taken by him. His commentary was originally printed as an opinion piece in the Duluth News-Tribune.

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