Man tried to set himself on fire during relocation of homeless encampment, police say
BALTIMORE -- City officials say they were forced to clear out a homeless encampment under the Jones Falls Expressway Bridge on Saturday night following an uproar over a space that vendors use to sell their goods on Sundays.
Today the farmers' market was open for business. Some of the homeless people who recently occupied the space did not move far from the location though.
They merely moved their tents to the other side of the wall.
Baltimore City Police said when officers showed up on Saturday night to ensure the last remaining homeless campers left the area, one of them tried to set himself on fire.
Homeless advocate Christina Flowers told the campers that they had only three hours to move.
Flowers says the city's negotiations with its homeless population have repeatedly failed—in part because the housing options available do not work for everyone.
"Everybody got different situations while they're out here,"she said. "None of that was really taken into consideration. . . .You got three men out here that work. They couldn't handle a curfew. They would lose their job. So everybody had a circumstance that conflicted with the restrictive scheduled rooms, the curfews, the hotels."
The back and forth started a week ago when farmers' market vendors showed up expecting to set up at their regular spots—which they paid for—only to find people who had set up tents.
"It's terrible; it's unfair," vendor Mitchell Salland said. "I understand that they need a place but we pay rent. We pay a lot of rent to be here. I've been here 20 years."
After police moved the last remaining homeless demonstrators from under the bridge, Mayor Brandon Scott's Office of Homeless Services (MOHS) issued a statement on Sunday.
The statement said in part that some demonstrators did accept outreach and shelter services.
Additionally, the mayor's office will continue to work with members of the group experiencing homelessness, according to the statement.
About a dozen protestors blocked the Gay Street ramp to I-83 on Thursday to call attention to the forced relocation of the homeless campers.
MOHS made several attempts to provide shelter options to less than a dozen demonstrators, according to city officials. Some people were receptive to offers of shelter, others were not, officials said.
After a week of ongoing conversations, the decision was made to remove the homeless people from their campsite under the Jones Falls Expressway Bridge, according to city officials.
It was a last-resort decision that included a public safety response due to the fact that members of the group had repeatedly refused services and were becoming hostile toward city workers, city officials said.
"It's been horrible," said Alonzo Coley, who told WJZ he's been homeless for two years. He said it's harder for him to get housing because he has a young son.
Coley said it's often easier for homeless mothers with children to receive housing.
"No one from MOHS—none of them want to speak with me. No one wants to entertain what's going on or address the issue," he said.
City records show that there are 1,597 homeless people in Baltimore.
