PHOTOGRAPHY about PovertyPolice/PrisonsHousingDirect Actionposted on April 30, 2011 by flux
Shelter prisoners finally released
VANCOUVER - Eight housing advocates were released from Vancouver jail at midday today after spending 18 hours behind bars. All were released without charges or conditions. Police had threatened to charge them with "assault by trespass."
They were met by cheering supporters, some of whom waited outside the city jail all night for their release.
The City of Vancouver had the activists arrested inside the closed Fraser Emergency Shelter yesterday. They had refused to leave the empty building in an effort to keep the low-barrier facility open. The shelter is one of five shut down by the City and BC Housing (one of the five, the New Fountain Shelter, manged to get a 60-day extention before it too will be closed).
BC Housing minister Rich Coleman told housing advocates yesterday that "there is no need to extend the shelters - the numbers just don't warrant it."
For more information see: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/six-arrested-fraser-shelter/7117 and http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/newsrelease/7116
The site for the Vancouver local of The Media Co-op has been archived and will no longer be updated. Please visit the main Media Co-op website to learn more about the organization.
Comments
Awesome!
Was at the event until just before they were arrested, did jail solidarity until 2am - froze my nipples off and mised the release at 1pm due to a DNC board meeting.
Awesome coverage Murray!
We need more of this - since the city, province and feds plays so damn dirty!
Tami Starlight - VMC Editorial Collective & Video femininja who loves bicycle riding!
Useless Other Media
Thanks so much for the continuous updating on this story. So far, according to all media other than VMC, none of this happened! But then, when "reporters" are paid off by those advertisers, every single weekend becomes a long weekend, and those perpetual long weekends turn into black holes for breaking news.
Coleman's Comments
How can Housing Minister Coleman say the numbers don't warrant it, when the shelter operators stated that one of the reasons they wouldn't keep the Fraser St facility open was because it would be filled up immediately if they left it open & the same would happen with the other shelters! Does not compute!