The Epic Battle Of Echo Park

thirteenbyseven

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Crackdown at Echo Park homeless encampment begins as LAPD moves in, clashes with protesters

"We have met the enemy and they are ours!" -- Oliver Hazard Perry

Although the Battle of Echo Park may have not ranked alongside the Battle of 1812 or more notable wartime clashes, you'd never know it by the intense media coverage last night in Southern California. A breathless reporter anxiously announced that the LAPD had just gone on Tactical Alert after a sizable group of homeless and their supporters began chanting rhythmic protest slogans around a large encampment at once bucolic Echo Park. That meant that SWAT, dressed like sci-fi cyborgs, were totted out along with their way-cool blow-em-up toys and plenty of helicopters thump-thumping overhead to add to all the drama. Soon after mucho fun began.

The late LAPD Chief Daryl Gates maintained it was he who dreamed-up the concept of SWAT--a Special Weapons And Tactical unit of the police department-- where highly-trained officers, armed with formidable weapons of mass destruction, could more easily take-on enemies of truth, justice and the American way. In one of SWAT's most glorious battles they fought against the likes of the Symbionese Liberation Army or SLA, clandestinely hidden in a lair in South Central Los Angeles.

The SLA was lead by a barely literate ninth-grade drop-out from Cleveland named Donald DeFreeze, an African-American who had somehow cobbled together a rag-tag group of mostly affluent white members, including heiress Patty Hearst. Chief Daryl Gates was alarmed upon being told that DeFreeze (somewhat modestly) had changed his named to General Field Marshall Cinque, and was reportedly heading south to LA from the SF Bay area with his merry band of followers. Moreover, the "Field Marshall" had armed his elite regiment with the finest firepower they could scrounge-up at inner city swap meets. Inevitably these two world powers clashed. Against all odds, SWAT defeated the SLA by six touchdowns on that day. SWAT's been kicking-ass ever since!

Thankfully saner heads prevailed last night. They met the enemy and they are us.





 
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thirteenbyseven

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Our Favorite Luxury Tents for Camping - Sunset.com

Just an addendum to the above post. Announcing that they removed that one McMansion tent which was equipped with a power generator, a refrigerator and a TV. Several Echo Lake homeowners were complaining about the loud generator, particularly late at night.

After KNBC reported on homeless McMansions in L.A., my mind automatically pictured one of those optical illusions out of an Arabian nights movie. One where there is an ordinary tent on the outside, but once inside there's an infinite amount of living space-- complete with a
gourmet kitchen, granite countertops and an island, a mahogany wood-paneled living room, oriental rugs and an 85" 8k QLED TV.

This story may not be a big deal where you live, but it's great entertainment in Southern California!
 

thirteenbyseven

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Echo Park protester alleges LAPD officer broke his arm with baton strike

"They were baseball bat swings! Full windup, as if it were a 70 mph fastball down the middle!!!"

Since this important unfolding news story in Los Angeles has garnered 43 views to date, I shall continue posting as events warrant. ;)


Isaac Scher is a compassionate young freelance journalist who claims he was simply covering the protest last night. He's a recent philosophy graduate from the College of Wooster, a small liberal arts institution southwest of Akron, Ohio where urban protests are infrequent. The College of Wooster's forte is in the performing arts, less so with athletics, so Scher can be excused for being impressed with a 70 mph fastball down the middle. For perspective, famed Cleveland Indian pitcher "Bullet" Bob Feller-- in his final days at age 92-- could probably have delivered one down the middle faster than 70 mph.

 

WilliamG

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This is a horrible situation. I was born and raised in Venice Beach. We all kind of 'got along'. As a kid, I walked among the homeless. They were part of the fabric of the city. Many if not most were the ones kicked out of mental hospitals that Reagan closed. But then Santa Monica became ultra gentrified... So they were pushed into Venice. Soon there were/are hundreds of homeless. Then Snapchat moved their corporate headquarters to right on the boardwalk of Venice Beach. They went public. Overnight, many employees of Snap became millionaires. They were paying super high prices for homes in the Venice area. Police started pushing them out. Many homeless followed the bus line to Echo Park for a place. Meanwhile, Snap picks up and moves out of Venice... Now the town in falling apart. It's a sad story all around.
 

ActionBuddy

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I will admit that I know little about the city of Los Angeles, but I'm good at reading maps. Won't these expelled, "unhoused neighbors" simply move on to nearby, much larger parks? Like Griffith or Elysian? If I were there, I would find more secluded, level ground, out of immediate sight of the Cops.

The unhoused neighbors encampments are happening up and down the West Coast and throughout the USA. Expulsions and fencing is not a solution.


A/B
 

thirteenbyseven

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Thank you ActionBuddy and WlliamG for opening the discussion!

An area of homeless resistance to accepting food and shelter in hotels is that it comes with "strings attached." Those strings include mental health evaluations, an education and job skill evaluation, and help with mainstreaming back into society.
 

rockmusl1

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Thank you ActionBuddy and WlliamG for opening the discussion!

An area of homeless resistance to accepting food and shelter in hotels is that it comes with "strings attached." Those strings include mental health evaluations, an education and job skill evaluation, and help with mainstreaming back into society.

Too many “Help” programs require the Homeless person to surrender any and all autonomy to the Agency “helping” them in return for continued instability. As one homeless lady I met said of her tent “They can tell me to move it, whatever, but once it’s up and I’m inside, it’s mine. I make the rules. I decide who visits and who doesn’t and what I want to do or not.” Not too much to ask, I think.
 

ActionBuddy

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Too many “Help” programs require the Homeless person to surrender any and all autonomy to the Agency “helping” them in return for continued instability. As one homeless lady I met said of her tent “They can tell me to move it, whatever, but once it’s up and I’m inside, it’s mine. I make the rules. I decide who visits and who doesn’t and what I want to do or not.” Not too much to ask, I think.

Not to mention the many "Christian" Missions, that require the needy to listen to preaching in order to "deserve" a meal or a bed for the night. Ugh!

A/B
 
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thirteenbyseven

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LAPD open fire during standoff with woman known as 'the mermaid' in MacArthur Park

According to Google Maps it's 1.7 statute miles from Echo Park, south to MacArthur Park near downtown Los Angeles. On Good Friday over two-dozen LAPD officers-- including an elite unit of commando underwater frogmen-- responded to reports that a woman known as The Mermaid of MacArthur Park was swimming in the lake-- again. And she had a gun. Nobody seems to know her name, only that she lives nearby in a tent and likes to swim in the lake, fortunately clad in some sort of attire. She is around 5'5" or 6" and her buoyancy is greatly aided by a generous supply of adipose fat.

The question is why it took LAPD three-hours to arrest this individual? A huge crowd of onlookers assembled at the shoreline, entertained by the spectacle of a fat woman drifting around the lake on her back. Meanwhile LAPDs finest commando frogmen huddled together like the LA Rams in the 4th quarter of a close game, hatching a plan on how to engage her via a deep underwater surprise attack. Fortunately after a fashion she became tired and dog-paddled to shore, encouraged by some blank shots being fired and a stern lecture through a bullhorn.

Remind me not to drive anywhere near the Los Angeles central business district. :rolleyes:
 
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