Bloomington Herald-Times
May 8, 2013
5 people arrested during 'sleep-in' at downtown parking garage
By Dann Denny
May 7, 2013, last update: 5/7 @ 12:55 am
Five protesters who staged a "sleep-in" in a downtown city parking garage were arrested Monday night by Bloomington police on preliminary charges of trespassing.
About 15 officers confronted the protest group in Garage Art, hours after the organizers of a temporary shelter in the Fourth Street parking garage had been notified that the city would no longer allow them to use the facility. A group of homeless individuals had been sleeping on the third floor of the garage over the weekend.
Charis Heisey, an advocate for homeless people, said sheltering in the garage was necessary because about 60 homeless individuals have been left without a low-barrier shelter to sleep at after the closing of the Genesis Summer Shelter and the season ending at the Interfaith Winter Shelter.
Bloomington police were at the garage before the protesters were set to gather. About 9:20 p.m., about 20 people crossed from the northwest corner of Fourth and Walnut streets and into the northeast corner of the garage. Three women and two men set sleeping bags down, placing signs on top of their bags that bore such slogans as "Sleeping is a human right" and "Where did you sleep last night?"
Robert Phillip Ray, a homeless man who has been sleeping on the steps of City Hall recently, yelled at the officers as they approached each protester, removing them from their sleeping bags and handcuffing them. He asked, "Where are we supposed to go?" In most cases, pairs of officers grabbed unmoving protesters by their arms and carried them to the police cars, with the protesters' feet dragging across the floor.
Heisey, Nicole Johnson, Ryan Conaway, Cooper Childers and Jori Hall were the five protesters arrested at the garage.
After the arrests were made, Sgt. Dana Cole told the remaining protesters, many of whom shot photographs and video to document the event, that they had 15 minutes to leave the property or they would also be arrested on trespassing charges.
Supporters of the five protesters stood in solidarity as their cohorts were taken into police custody, chanting "We support you." They then cleared out the garage and carried a banner that read "Solidarity Against Austerity" in a march to the Monroe County Jail, where the five arrested people were taken.
"They came out in a lot more force than I thought," Karissa McKelvey, one of the advocates, said of the police gathering in the garage. After the protest, the entrance was occupied by a half-dozen police vehicles. "It's really apparent that they are not serious about dealing with the homeless issue and instead criminalizing homelessness," McKelvey said.
Heisey, an ally of the homeless group, was one of the individuals who was arrested. She got a call Monday afternoon from attorney Jessie Cook, who's working with the homeless group. She said Cook told her she'd just been contacted by city attorney Margie Rice, who said city police would not allow the contingent to sleep in the garage Monday night.
"I am not willing to allow this space to be jeopardized without some resistance," Heisey said before the protest. "This is our last resort. The fact that the city wants to take it away is insane. I'm expecting a struggle this evening."
Cook, an adjunct professor in the IU School of Law who has a law practice in Terre Haute, confirmed that Rice told her the homeless individuals would not be allowed to spend their nights in the garage. She was at the garage observing the nonviolent protest Monday night.
"That is very unfortunate, because that means 30 to 50 people will have no place to sleep tonight," Cook said Monday afternoon. "It serves no one's purpose to move them from one temporary location to another. And it's supposed to rain again tonight."
Heisey said when the homeless group spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the parking garage, it did so with the blessing of the Bloomington Police Department. (See the group's related YouTube videos of their earlier interactions with police, below.) Most of the contingent slept on donated blankets placed on the concrete floor, though some snoozed in cars provided by advocates. Pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, popcorn and beverages were provided; and movies were shown on a stretched-out bedsheet with a donated projector.
The list of shown movies have included "Fight Club," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "The Matrix" and "Goldmember" — a parody of "Goldfinger" and other James Bond films starring Mike Myers as Austin Powers.
Heisey said the group has been arriving at the parking garage around 9 p.m. and leaving around 9 a.m. on weekends; 6 a.m. on weekdays.
"The atmosphere has been fun and calm," she said. "And people are relieved to be dry and safe."
There are homeless shelters in Bloomington, and some beds are available there, but there are requirements of sobriety and other responsibilities placed on the occupants. Heisey said the garage site was cleaned up every morning before the group left. She added that advocates had been escorting homeless individuals into nearby restaurants and bars where they used the restrooms.
The protesters said they had been using the Fourth Street garage because it had an average capacity of 45 percent from September to mid-November of last year.
"City of Bloomington parking garages have been severely under-utilized and losing money," said Nicole Johnson, another homeless advocate who was arrested Monday night. "We've found a way to utilize them that requires very few resources, while minimizing use of police and health care resources to support the homeless community."
EARLIER: 10:45 PM MONDAY UPDATE
Five protesters who staged a "sleep-in" in a downtown parking garage were arrested Monday night by Bloomington police on preliminary charges of trespass.
About 15 officers confronted the protest group in Garage Art about 9:15 p.m., hours after the organizers of a temporary shelter in the parking garage had been notified that the city would no longer allow them to use the facility. A group of about 30 homeless individuals had been sleeping on the third floor of the garage over the weekend.
This story will be updated.
EARLIER MONDAY:
A spokeswoman for a group of homeless individuals and their allies who have spent the last three nights sleeping in the Fourth Street parking garage said she's expecting a clash with city police around 9 Monday night.
That's about the time about 30 homeless folks and their supporters will be settling in for the night on the third floor of the parking garage, said Charis Heisey, an ally of the homeless group.
Heisey said she got a call this afternoon from attorney Jessie Cook, who's working with the homeless group. She said Cook told her she'd just been contacted by city attorney Margie Rice, who said city police will not allow the contingent to sleep Monday night in the structure called Garage Art.
"I am not willing to allow this space to be jeopardized without some resistance," Heisey said. "This is our last resort. The fact that the city wants to take it away is insane. I'm expecting a struggle this evening."
Cook, an adjunct professor in the Indiana University School of Law who has a law practice in Terre Haute, confirmed that Rice told her this afternoon the homeless individuals will not be allowed to spend the night in the garage.
"That is very unfortunate, because that means 30 to 50 people will have no place to sleep tonight," Cook said. "It serves no one's purpose to move them from one temporary location to another. And it's supposed to rain again tonight."
Repeated calls to Mayor Mark Kruzan and Capt. Joe Qualters of the Bloomington Police Department asking about the decision by the city were not returned.
Heisey said she plans to ask police where they expect the homeless to sleep Monday night if they are ordered to vacate the parking garage.
"It sounds like the word came down from the mayor," she said. "I don't understand, because we have been really responsible."
Heisey said when the homeless group spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the parking garage, it did so with the blessing of the Bloomington Police Department.
"Our first night there, several city police officers stopped by and said as long as we were quiet and friendly and respectful they would not move us out," Heisey said Monday morning. "I think this represents an unprecedented change in police policy and I appreciate that the seriousness of this issue is being recognized. It's not right to punish people for finding a place to sleep."
Heisey said most of the contingent slept on donated blankets placed on the concrete floor, though some snoozed in cars provided by advocates. Pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, popcorn and beverages were provided; and movies were shown on a stretched-out bedsheet with a donated projector.
"I'm calling it the Dream Garage," Heisey said. "We're using the top covered floor, which puts a roof over the heads of people who have nowhere else to go. It's not glamorous sleeping on a garage floor, but it's an important short-range solution that's fulfilling a real need."
The list of shown movies have included "Fight Club," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," "The Matrix" and "Goldmember" — a parody of "Goldfinger" and other James Bond films starring Mike Myers as Austin Powers.
"'Goldmember' was a huge hit," Heisey said. "The homeless people, allies and kids all loved it."
Heisey said the group has been arriving at the parking garage around 9 p.m. and leaving around 9 a.m. on weekends; 6 a.m. on weekdays.
"The atmosphere has been fun and calm," she said. "And people are relieved to be dry and safe."
She said the shelter is necessary because about 60 homeless individuals have been left without a place to sleep after the closing of the Genesis Summer Shelter and the season ending at the Interfaith Winter Shelter.
There are other homeless shelters in Bloomington, and some beds are available there, but there are requirements of sobriety and other responsibilities placed on the occupants.
Heisey said the garage site is cleaned up every morning before the group leaves. She added that advocates have been escorting homeless individuals into nearby restaurants and bars where they have been using the restrooms.
"We've talked about getting a port a-potty, but we haven't so far because we hope this is just a temporary solution until the Ubuntu Shelter Working Group can find a facility," she said. "That would be a much better long-term solution."
She said the garage, managed by REI, an Indianapolis based private company, had an average capacity of 45 percent from September to mid-November of last year.
"City of Bloomington parking garages have been severely under-utilized and losing money," said Nicole Johnson, another homeless advocate. "We've found a way to utilize them that requires very few resources, while minimizing use of police and health care resources to support the homeless community."
