Photo of James "Faygo" Clark in front of Sacramento City Hall on January 13 by Dan Bacher.
In the time-honored tradition of using a hunger strike to focus attention upon a great injustice, James “Faygo" Clark, an organizer and spokesperson for the homeless protest camp at Sacramento City Hall, marked his seventh day without food on Monday, January 18.
Monday also was the 42nd day of the sustained homeless protest at City Hall, despite more than a dozen arrests for "unlawful camping" since the mini-camp began December 8. Clark has been arrested twice for affirming his “right to rest” in defiance of the City’s unconstitutional camping ordinance.
Clark has said he will continue on the hunger strike until the new City Task Force on Homeless invites three people from the homeless protest to be on that task force. The city of Sacramento has not responded to date.
As he continues his hunger strike, Clark said, “ I think that we’re going to win. We hope to put enough pressure on the City until they say they can’t take it anymore and repeal the camping ordinance.”
Clark said the support of people for the protest and strike has been “amazing.”
“Local volunteers have been able to provide us with food and other supplies,” he noted. “One thing that we could use definitely is hot water, though.”
Earlier this month, Clark said, "Something is wrong that the City of Sacramento, when weather is below freezing, denies people the right to rest or ability to carry supplies essential to protecting themselves from the elements. And Sacramento is supposed to be a world class city.”
David Rodriguez, a homeless Hupa Indian and laid off warehouse worker, said he has stayed at the protest for four nights “because I stand behind Faygo’s cause, the right to rest. How can anybody be homeless in Sacramento without standing behind Faygo’s hunger strike and protest?”
He added that as a Native, “I have the legal right to camp within 100 feet of any waterway in California.”
Another protester, Don, originally of Dayton, Ohio, said he has been homeless off and on for 15 years.
A Marine Corps veteran of Operation Desert Storm, he said, “I support the occupation in front of City Hall and I want to see that the homeless get their right to rest. I plan to be here as long as it takes.”
Dozens of homeless camp protesters and supporters plan to pack City Hall for the Sacramento City Council meeting Tuesday night, demanding inclusion of the homeless on the City Task Force on the Homeless. The task force is on the council's agenda Tuesday evening.
Advocates will begin protesting at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the City Hall Homeless Camp.
The homeless group released this statement Monday:
"January 5th Mayor Kevin Johnson set up a task 'farce' to address homelessness. He appointed three council members, and no homeless. The next week James Lee Clark (Faygo) began a hunger strike demanding that no less than three members of the homeless community be added to that task farce. This week the last item on the agenda is a report back on that task force. (we demand) the city comply by adding three members of the homeless community to the task force so it can have a real effect!
"Since December 8th we have been occupying city hall for the #Right2Rest. the response has been militaristic police enforcement against the occupiers/protesters. On January 2nd over 50 Sacramento police raided (mostly in riot gear) and arrested 7 (4 booked, 3 cite and release {still an arrest}). There has been regular arrests since. On January 9th the city stepped up again by sending over 40 officers to confiscate our supplies, and make further arrests of event organizers. (We will) express our outrage at both the mistreatment of our homeless/protesters, and excessive waste of city resources used to do so."
A press release from the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) Sacramento also stated, “The city of Sacramento seems pleased to let Clark die rather than include homeless in the discussion,”
“The City claims it is ‘not criminalizing’ the homeless, although it continues to use riot police to harass, arrest and jail them for protesting,” according to the NLG. “The City also has complained about ‘health’ issues as a reason to arrest, but the City removed porta potties at the protest and locked park restrooms and area dumpsters.
The Department of Justice has issued a statement of interest in a federal case in Boise, in which seven people sued the city over their conviction for the "crime" of camping, according to the NLG. The DOJ in August of 2015 said bans on sleeping in public are unconstitutional. www.justice.gov/...
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