[su_heading size=”24″ align=”left”]Hundreds rally for homeless community displaced by Super Bowl[\/su_heading]<\/p>\n
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In the shadow of the Embarcadero Center towers, a crowd of protesters gathered on the evening of Feb. 3, to condemn San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials for their treatment of the city\u2019s homeless in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl 50.<\/p>\n
The protest, organized by Broke-Ass Stuart and the Coalition on Homelessness, started as a rally outside Pier 2, and after speeches by community leaders and members, turned into a march down the Embarcadero and around the blocked-off area at Justin Herman Plaza, called Super Bowl City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe city is in pain and it has gotten worse in the past three years,\u201d said Kristen Korkos, who moved to San Francisco at age 18. \u201cIf we aren\u2019t careful we\u2019ll end up homeless ourselves. This city is about greed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ron Johnson, 67, a homeless Vietnam veteran, came to the protest to support his homeless friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy friends have constantly been harassed in the Haight for the last two months,\u201d he said. \u201cGive them a place to camp, then they can make progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protest highlights other related issues as well, including soaring rent prices, the city\u2019s housing crisis, gentrification and police brutality.<\/p>\n
Barry Eisenberg attended the protest, calling for justice for Mario Woods. Eisenberg said he is worried about the police\u2014or at least what he called the \u201cbad apples\u201d of the SFPD.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was once homeless back in the \u201870s,\u201d Eisenberg said. \u201cI lived on Ocean Beach. The homeless shouldn\u2019t be pushed around and criminalized like they are now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Irene Andrada, 23, who heard about the protest from a friend, feels the same way.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is unnecessary to treat humans this way,\u201d said Andrada.<\/p>\n
A number of the speakers also noted the heavy police presence, which grew as the protest did, spreading out in lines in the street. Behind the ranks, their commanding officers leaned over to speak quietly to each other, their eyes hidden behind sunglasses despite the increasing twilight. At their belts were zip ties and batons, some nearly three feet long and two inches in diameter.<\/p>\n
One of the protest\u2019s goals was to draw more scrutiny to the actions of elected city officials, such as Mayor Lee. Their decisions to \u201cclean up\u201d the city for the benefit of tourists, especially Super Bowl attendees, attracted widespread criticism.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Cleaning up\u2019 for tourists is just wrong,\u201d said Ocean Capewell, 33, who has been a guidance counselor for the homeless for three years, and has many friends who are homeless.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomelessness has always been an issue here,\u201d said Yakira Teitel, 34. \u201cWe have so much money, we should have a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Gemigniani, 73, is angry that the homeless were removed to benefit the National Football League (NFL), which up until 2015 operated as a nonprofit.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Ed Lee to chase the homeless out, he must be making a lot of money,\u201d said Gemigniani. \u201cThe police are making overtime here and the money that is spent on their overtime could have gone elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the crowd grew, passersby became impatient. Bikes, backpacks, pedicabs and tourists made their way past the protesters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have time for this,\u201d one woman yelled. Another man muttered under his breath, \u201cCome on, seriously?\u201d<\/p>\n
Capewell had words for them:<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know why the commuters are being such a**holes. They\u2019re trying to get home while we\u2019re fighting for people who have no homes.\u201d<\/p>\n
After speeches, chants, and rallying cries, the protest went on the move, accompanied by the familiar flicker of red and blue police lights from a small fleet of vans. Their signs, aloft against the lights of the Super Bowl City stage, drew the eyes of sightseers and bystanders, who watched the long column of marchers pass. Their shouts echoed off the tall buildings around them and rang through the darkness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[su_heading size=”24″ align=”left”]Hundreds rally for homeless community displaced by Super Bowl[\/su_heading] [su_slider source=”media: 29326,29327,29328,29329,29330,29331,29332,29333,29334,29335,29336,29337,29338,29339,29340,29341,29342,29343,29344,29345,29346″ limit=”30″ link=”image” target=”blank” width=”700″ height=”460″ autoplay=”0″ speed=”500″][su_menu][\/su_slider] In the shadow of the Embarcadero Center towers, a crowd of protesters gathered on the evening of Feb. 3, to condemn San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and other city officials for their treatment of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":29343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3929],"tags":[8049,8039,5443,8055,8053,7511,3870,8047,8051,7937,7939,7941,8043,8041,8045],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-29325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-barry-eisenberg","tag-broke-ass-stuart","tag-ed-lee-en","tag-homeless-en","tag-irene-andrada","tag-mario-woods-en","tag-nfl","tag-ocean-capewell","tag-ron-johnson","tag-super-bowl","tag-super-bowl-50","tag-super-bowl-city","tag-tent","tag-the-coalition-on-homelessness","tag-yakira-teitel","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n