LA City authorities are proceeding with their abusive policies towards the poor and disabled who live on the streets of Venice. Councilman Bill Rosentow, Arturo Pena, and the LAPD have openly lied at public meetings. Special council staffer Jim Horiwitz stands with them.

People who live on the streets are forced to relocate. Fear tactics, used by armed officers, are being used to scare and intimidate people into leaving. The local social service, including St Joseph Center, PATH, and Christian Chaplains are joining forces with the LAPD while they abuse and drive the poor out of Venice.

Many who live in Venice and those who have been driven out (forced to relocate) are deeply resentful of the City of LA’s abusive policies and practices directed at them. The City and NIMBY organizations, like the Venice Stakeholder’s Association, will continue to violate the civil and human rights of the poor. Using an illegal LA City law (closing the beach) to run poor people off the Venice Boardwalk is one of the newest violations.

The LAPD Officer in charge of the Venice/Oakwood Task Force said in a public meeting that the California Coastal Commission has no enforcement capability – it can only advise. The LAPD Pacific division is a heavily armed, militarized police force. It has helicopters, chemical weapons, sophisticated communications systems, and plenty of guns and ammunition.

What this officer really said was that famous quotation from Chairman Mao, “Power Comes From the Barrel of a Gun.” It does not matter that the court and the judges, which are a major part of our government, have made decisions and agreements that have protected the constitutional rights of people living on the streets in Venice.

Maybe the misguided Police Officer’s uniform, equipment, and gun are all made in China – a country that I must remind you is an authoritarian dictatorship.

This Country we all live in (the homeless, the police, and the abusive Venice Stakeholders) is ruled by the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This document, the highest law of the land and looked up to by people around the world, also protects people living on the streets in Venice.