Several protesters arrested as Bellingham police, city workers break up park homeless camp
Bellingham Police arrested several protesters during a confrontation Thursday morning, as city officials cleared a homeless encampment from Laurel Park.
Public Works and Parks & Recreation employees, supported by police, dismantled about two dozen tents, bagged campers’ belongings for storage, and hauled away trash and personal items ruined by the elements.
Police blocked the four intersections around Laurel Park about 8 a.m. Thursday, March 25, and about 20 officers in regular patrol uniforms stood watch around the park as the camp was dismantled.
About 20 other officers staged nearby in case they were needed.
Social workers from the Community Paramedic and GRACE programs were at the Sehome neighborhood park along with representatives of Lighthouse Mission Ministries, which operates the Base Camp emergency shelter downtown.
“Many of them are taking Public Works up on our offer to store their gear,” Public Works Director Eric Johnston told The Bellingham Herald.
A total of nine campers decided to move from Laurel Park to Base Camp, said Hans Erchinger-Davis, executive director of Lighthouse Mission.
“Our aim is to get people plugged into services. (Base Camp) is the hub,” Erchinger-Davis told The Herald in an interview.
Erchinger-Davis said his team initially was prevented from helping campers, and Police Lt. Claudia Murphy said that protesters were attempting to obstruct cleanup crews and social workers.
Information about the number of protesters arrested wasn’t immediately available.
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A member of the Bellingham Occupied Protest told The Herald that she and others were at the park to help campers move and that police wouldn’t let them approach.
“They said I couldn’t stand here and that I would be arrested,” said Kate Bannermann.
“Why would I get arrested in a public park? We’re helping people,” Bannermann said.
Bannermann is among the group of Bellingham Occupied Protest activists who have been seeking more immediate shelter for those without housing.
They established a protest encampment in November that spread across the lawns of City Hall and the Bellingham Public Library.
Campers were ousted from the site on Jan. 28, and a confrontation with police resulted in seven arrests.
Bellingham Occupied Protest volunteers and others helped many campers move to Frank Geri Softball Fields, but the city dismantled that camp March 16 and campers moved to Laurel Park.
City officials ousted them from the park March 19, but they returned that evening after being turned away from other locations.
Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood said at a City Council meeting Monday, March 22, that camping in public parks is illegal, and vowed that Laurel Park would be cleared of campers.
Johnston told The Herald that all campers and their belongings had been removed from the park by 11 a.m. Thursday.
Bellingham spokeswoman Janice Keller said she was troubled by what she said was “misinformation” from protesters and others.
“The the city and the county and our multiple partners are spending some $10 million annually on housing and homeless services,” Keller told The Herald. “The allegation that we are doing nothing is both wrong and unfair.”
Homeless advocate Markis Stidham said Thursday’s action defies federal guidelines that advise against dismantling homeless camps during the new coronavirus pandemic.
But the city says that the volunteers didn’t follow CDC guidelines when they encouraged the congregation of unsheltered community members into the large camps that have moved from downtown Bellingham to the Puget neighborhood and now to the Sehome neighborhood, Brian Heinrich, deputy administrator for the city, told The Herald in an earlier story.
“Their actions have increased the risk of transmission by consolidating many small encampments into a single location,” Heinrich said.
Base Camp was 78% full the night of Wednesday, March 24, according to Erchinger-Davis.
Stidham, who is on the board of the nonprofit Serenity Outreach Services and an appointed member of the Whatcom County Homeless Strategies Workgroup, was helping collect campers belongings in a box truck but he was unsure where they would go.
“Many of the faces on this lawn are long-time Whatcom County residents. They’re dispersing the weakest among us throughout the city,” Stidham said.
Bellingham resident Jack Smith was one of the campers at Laurel Park who decided to stay on the streets.
Smith told The Herald in an interview that he had been staying for several nights at a motel, paid for by donations brought to the camp, as he recovered from an injury.
“I’m trying to show the public that we’re not that bad,” Smith said as he stood at the park’s edge with a wagon of his belongings and several other former campers gathered on a nearby sidewalk.
“We want to work with (the city), but there’s nowhere for us to go,” Smith said. “Give us something so we can give you something. We’re in a desperate situation right now. Why not try something new? If we fail, OK — we tried.”
He said he spends much of his day walking, and wishes more than anything for one night of uninterrupted sleep.
“I keep my mind busy because whenever I think about (my situation), it gets depressing,” Smith said.
Base Camp is too crowded and noisy for him, he said.
He’s been on a waiting list for permanent housing and is beginning to lose hope, he said.
“It would be nice to have my own place, even a shack or something,” he said.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 8:55 AM.
