Good afternoon, 

Everybody needs a safe place to live. But instead of lowering rents and fixing our broken housing system, politicians are setting the stage for violence by cutting funding for vital programs, passing laws that make it a crime to sleep outside, and continually demonizing and vilifying homeless people. Their actions have devastating and fatal consequences. Click here to read our full statement. 

Three separate incidents within the last week highlight this horrific trend. 

• Over the weekend, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, on national television, called for the mass murder of homeless people.
• Second, on September 15, homeless people in Minneapolis were the victims of a mass shooting. Instead of responding with housing for the victims, the government responded with bulldozers. Those who were impacted, including people who were shot, had their tents and belongings thrown away, including an urn containing the ashes of one unhoused person’s child. Residents are racing to secure a new place to live before winter starts. To support them, click here to donate. 
• And third, also on September 15th, a homeless man named Corey Zukatis was found dead, hanging from a tree in Mississippi. The same day, a Black man named Demartravion “Trey” Reed was found dead, also hanging from a tree, also in Mississippi. These deaths harken back to the racial terror that is endemic to this country. Let’s be clear: this too, is political violence. 

The constant dehumanization of homeless people is part of Trump’s authoritarian agenda. You can learn more by clicking here. 

Take action and fight back

Below are three things you can do right now to protect the rights of our homeless neighbors: 

• Demand that Congress pass the Housing Not Handcuffs Act
• Join the Housing Not Handcuffs Campaign
• Donate to those impacted by the Minneapolis shooting 

It doesn’t have to be this way. Everyone —regardless of what they look like, where they are from, or who they love —should have a life of safety, dignity, and belonging. We know that the safest communities are not those with the military patrolling the streets; they are the ones where everybody has their needs, like housing, met. 

The solution to homelessness is housing and support, not handcuffs and dehumanization. In a country as prosperous as ours, we have more than enough money to ensure that everybody has a safe place to live, food to eat, and the care they need.  We need our politicians to use their power to ensure that everybody has a safe place to call home. 

Onward,

Housing Not Handcuffs