ST. LOUIS — The city on Monday began its planned removal of homeless encampments. But, by mid-afternoon, only one or two people had been removed, according to advocates and city officials.
The city had posted notices at four homeless encampments advising residents that they had 10 days to vacate, with a deadline of Monday. The sites included an encampment under a pavilion along the Mississippi River, referred to as the Riverfront Community, and three sites near the Interstate 44 overpass by Cole Street.
But the riverfront group received a reprieve on Friday, when the city said it would delay its eviction. The city said it had shelter beds available for the Riverfront Community’s 15 to 20 residents, but that it would delay the site’s closure until it had options that are not in group settings.
In total, two encampments under Interstate 44 were cleared on Monday, according to a city official. City workers found one person staying at one of them, and the other was vacant. City workers collected and tagged some items that homeless individuals may claim, and then the area was cleared by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Robert Johnson, 53, said he was told to pack up and leave his spot Monday morning.
“I’m just going to do the best I can,†he said. “Stay warm. Stay safe. And find something to eat.â€
There is a third encampment under I-44 where four or five people have been staying, and which also received a notice to vacate by Monday. But the encampment was still there as of early Monday afternoon. The residents were packing up their belongings, and K.B. Doman, a volunteer from Tent Mission STL, said she and other volunteers planned to help them move elsewhere.
“I’ve been moved four times,†said a man who gave his name as Decky, 53. “I just keep moving.â€
Later Monday afternoon, the city official said there are no immediate plans to evict that site.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ police Maj. Renee Kriesmann, commander of the patrol division that covers the downtown area, said the encampments under I-44 posed public health and safety risks. Kriesmann also said officers make multiple arrests weekly for drug dealing in that area.
A group of protesters marched from the riverfront to City Hall on Monday morning to voice disapproval of the city’s push to empty the encampments.
Trina Scott, 43, who identified herself as the mayor of the Riverfront Community, was among those who marched.
“We need a stable place to call home,†she said.
Photos: Unhoused campers in ºüÀêÊÓƵ face removal as protesters rally
The law would strip funding from localities with high homeless populations that refuse to enforce local ordinances that bar the homeless from …
Angela Patel, a volunteer with Tent Mission STL, places protest signs on the steps of ºüÀêÊÓƵ City Hall after people marched from a tent encampment on the Mississippi River to downtown to voice their concerns about the city's plan to evict the unhoused living in the tents on Monday, May 2, 2022.Â