FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2023
CONTACT: community@sweepless.org
SWEEPLESS IN SEATTLE presents FED UP, TIRED, AND MARCHING!!
FED UP, TIRED, AND MARCHING!!
Saturday June 24 2023
1:00 pm
Westlake Park
401 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101
Sweepless in Seattle, a new collective of unhoused people who have been subject to relentless sweeps, will hold a rally and march on Saturday to demand the end of sweeps and forced displacements of unhoused people as long as Seattle fails to have adequate resources to offer alternative housing.
“Housing is like a joke. They show up to sweep twenty people and there might be one tiny house available or a couple beds in an open room shelter,” said a person who joined with Sweepless in Seattle. “Last time I was in one of those, all my stuff got stolen. By the staff! Even with the City throwing my things away all the time, it’s still safer out here.”
Sweepless in Seattle’s list of demands include:
“The 72-hour rule and other parking laws are being discriminatorily enforced. We can't even go to our jobs without being afraid that our vehicles might get towed,” said another person in the collective. “Some of these Parking Enforcement Officers are hateful and abusive. They show up on their off hours to harass us, they tell us they enjoy it. And then our case workers never know where to find us!”
“We’re exhausted from being swept around and harassed when there’s no place for us to go,” said one organizer. “Sweeps don’t get people off the streets. Sweeps just push people from one place to another, and then do it again and then do it again. If you don’t have real housing or real solutions, then leave people alone.”
Sweepless in Seattle is planning more public actions for the future.
For more information, contact community@sweepless.org
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Please stay connected with us to learn more about our many upcoming planned activities, including a next major protest during the upcoming All-Star Game week from July 7-11.
There are more sweeps happening every day now, between Parks clearings and 72-hour parking enforcements, than anyone can remember during or even before the pandemic shutdown. We are losing homes, documents, tools, and other vital parts of our lives faster than ever.
Adding to this pressure is the incoming MLB All-Star Game, spanning July 7-11. The City has been pursuing a relentless, thorough, and unprecedented campaign to ensure that SoDo, the industrial district surrounding the stadiums, contains no sights of humans trying to survive and live their lives where we have sometimes for years waiting for the City to provide housing and real solutions.
Please see this video from the local group Stop the Sweeps for more information about what's been happening.
For future news and opportunities to help us in our mission, please follow us on Instagram at @sweepless or sign up for our mailing list.