OCTOBER 17, 2025 INSP STREETS from last page are, for the most part, single gender, meaning that couples and adult families may have to split up. People living outside emphasize that shelters are not a home. Encampments can provide a sense of community and more freedom than shelters. Having a space that is all their own, even though it is outside, provides a sense of privacy and ownership that the communal style of shelter living can strip away, even as it offers more protection from the elements. “You have to cure the problem, not put a band-aid on the problem,” said one person experiencing homelessness, who asked to remain anonymous to protect their safety while living outside. City-driven encampment closures Encampment closures during the first week of the crackdown were mired in confusion, as law enforcement led many closures, and it seemed that the city’s social service agencies and encampment team were not always aware of closures beforehand. “When we first got started, it was a little difficult to try to figure out how it would work,” Turnage said on the night of the count. But now, he said, the federal and local teams have worked out a protocol. The federal government can inform DC about sites that it finds and ask to get a team there to close the site. According to a White House official, MPD patrol units are also working to locate and close encampments. The White House is reporting a much higher number of encampments closed than the city, suggesting that there have been several closures the city did not attend, or still does not have information about. “President Trump is cleaning up DC to make it safe for all residents and visitors while ensuring homeless individuals aren’t out on the streets putting themselves at risk or posing a risk to others. Homeless people will have the opportunity to be taken to a homeless shelter or receive addiction and mental health services,” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, wrote in response to questions about encampment closures. Street Sense followed up, asking how the White House is able to ensure that people are offered shelter or treatment if the relevant DC agencies are not aware of a closure, and requested a list of sites closed by law enforcement at the behest of the White House without involvement from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (DMHHS). White House officials did not provide specific responses to either question. Ahead of an encampment closure on September 3, Coco packed up her cart and moved from outside the Columbia Road Truist to a small park a couple of blocks away. Before DMHHS threw away her unwanted belongings, outreach workers repeatedly offered Coco bridge housing at the Aston. Over the two years in which Coco lived outside in the Adams Morgan neighborhood, they said that she had tried shelters and bridge housing but felt that they took away her freedom. As a voucher holder, Coco is holding out for a space she can feel is her own without a curfew or roommates. “I feel like I’m outside unjustly,” she said. “People like me [that] have a voucher – get me housed!” Uncertainty around arrests So far, Street Sense has not been able to confirm any arrests of people experiencing homelessness using the two statutes that the White House has said that MPD would potentially enforce to fine or jail people for camping or sleeping outside. These laws include DC Code 22-1307, which makes it illegal to block a sidewalk and could, in theory, be used to arrest someone for sleeping outside, as well as DC Municipal Regulation 24-100, which bans camping in D.C. Throughout the takeover, two people have been arrested at encampment clearings, but on the charge of assaulting an officer, according to a White House official. The city encampment team was not present for either arrest. The White House did not provide Street Sense with any specifics about GROUNDCOVER NEWS 15 the arrests, meaning that reporters could not independently verify their circumstances. But a number of people experiencing homelessness have been arrested, mostly on minor charges such as having open containers of alcohol and fare evasion. These arrests can be disruptive and traumatizing for people. They have also been upsetting for surrounding community members. A recent widely shared video depicts the arrest of an elderly woman experiencing homelessness. In the video, as nearly a dozen federal agents and local officers walk the handcuffed woman to a police cruiser, neighbors can be heard screaming expletives in anger at the officers. “Yes, we know her, she sits here for years,” one bystander yells, her voice rising in anger. “The f—ing FBI is here.” Miguel Trindade Deramo, an Advisory Neighborhood commissioner from a nearby neighborhood, took a video and posted it on social media platform X. He described the experience as upsetting. “It’s so disproportionate, it really made me wonder what was the precipitating event,” he told Street Sense. “It’s one thing for MPD to do it, another thing for federal agents.” Using the time and location of the arrest, Street Sense confirmed via arrest reports that the woman was arrested for having an open container of alcohol while she sat on a nearby see STREETS page 16
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