Police Clear Protest Encampment Outside San Francisco City Hall Less Than Two Days After It Went Up

A protest encampment outside San Francisco City Hall that organizers had described as a "sweeps-free sanctuary" was cleared by police early Thursday, less than two days after it was set up.

Video taken by an organizer shows at least 30 officers at the 2 a.m. operation, joined by park rangers and other city workers. Officers wore riot helmets and had batons strapped to their waists as they led away homeless people pushing carts of belongings. Organizers said no property was confiscated and no arrests were made. The footage appeared to show every tent being taken down.

The camp went up at 11 a.m. Tuesday as a protest against the city's aggressive efforts to remove tent encampments from sidewalks and other public spaces. Those efforts have followed the Supreme Court's decision in the Grants Pass case, which allowed stricter enforcement of regulations against homeless people. By 6 p.m. Tuesday, 18 tents stood at the site, some bearing messages such as "Where do we go?" and "Sweeps kill." Organizers said 35 people were sleeping there when police moved in, and that food, drinks and tents were available.

Lisa "Tiny" Gray-Garcia, co-founder of the Oakland-based anti-poverty group POOR Magazine, was among the organizers. She said Tuesday that the camp's defiant name came with no guarantee it would be left alone. The title, she said, highlighted how homeless people are made to keep moving. "This is a lateral move, because we've been swept from everywhere else," she said. "We're trying to take back spaces that are public."

Gray-Garcia, who has experienced homelessness herself, said organizers want city officials to meet with them about "unhoused peoples' solutions." Their proposals include a permanent moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent, defunding CARE Courts, and creating permanent rent-free housing along the lines of the Oakland project Homefulness. CARE Courts allow family members and first responders to file petitions on behalf of adults they believe cannot care for themselves.

Abe Nova, 33, said he heard about the camp Tuesday from a homeless woman who told him there was free food at City Hall. "We were hungry," he said. Organizers gave him a tent. Nova said he has lost a phone and cash during sweeps and that Department of Public Works employees soak his belongings when they spray down sidewalks. "I have to worry — is the street going to get sprayed or something to make us move away?" he said. He added that he avoids shelters, which he described as "scary."

Melissa Leibman, 38, said she has been unhoused in San Francisco for 12 years and has been through many sweeps. She recalled one around Christmas two years ago in which she lost photos of her mother and siblings, along with a generator she had bought with Covid stimulus checks. "They told us they were going to bag and tag. They never did," she said.

Organizers said similar protest camps have been set up in Oakland, Fresno, Vallejo, Los Angeles and Seattle.

The Recreation and Parks Department confirmed that police and park rangers cleared the encampment early Thursday. "Our rangers were on site, providing support to SFPD," spokesperson Daniel Montes said. The San Francisco Police Department and the Department of Public Works did not respond to requests for comment.