Like other US metropolises, Washington is struggling with an increasing number of homeless people. A tent camp near the White House has now been demolished prematurely. Instead, the camp residents should move to homeless shelters.
Police and health officials cleared a homeless camp near the White House in Washington that had existed for years. Officials dismantled tents in McPherson Square in the heart of the US capital and dumped the belongings of homeless people into garbage trucks. The camp, two blocks away from the White House, had grown to dozens of tents in recent years and had become a symbol of growing social inequality in the United States.
The police showed up early in the morning and began the evacuation, said camp resident Daniel Kingery. According to his own words, the 61-year-old with a long white beard was the first to set up his tent on McPherson Square about three years ago. He watched the camp grow over time as other homeless camps in the US capital were evicted.
The authorities had already announced in November that they would clear the camp by April at the latest. The National Park Service, which is responsible for many green spaces in Washington, said the eviction was brought forward “out of concern for safety and health.” Camp residents were told to go to homeless shelters instead.
Like many other US metropolitan areas, Washington is struggling to provide adequate housing for the growing number of homeless. It is estimated that around 5,000 homeless people lived on the streets of the US capital in 2021.
