Statement on the Tragic Death During Homeless Encampment Clearance in Atlanta

We are deeply saddened and outraged by the tragic death of an unhoused individual during the recent clearing of a homeless encampment near Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. This heartbreaking incident underscores the urgent need to rethink and reform policies that prioritize displacement over compassion and true solutions to homelessness.

Encampment clearancesโ€”or โ€œraidsโ€โ€”are dehumanizing and dangerous practices that fail to address the root causes of homelessness. Instead, they cause further harm, stripping vulnerable individuals of their dignity, safety, and the only place they can call home. Theyโ€™ve already lost so muchโ€”why take even more, including their humanity? Havenโ€™t they endured enough?

We are grieving alongside the community and extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the victim. No one should lose their life in the name of misguided policies that treat homelessness as a nuisance rather than a humanitarian crisis. Our hearts ache for the pain and fear this has caused, not only for those directly impacted but for every unhoused individual who now feels even less safe.

This tragedy demands accountability. We stand with organizations like Hosea Helps in calling for immediate transparency and justice.

Homelessness is not a crime, and unhoused individuals are not disposable. This loss must be a turning pointโ€”a moment to reject punitive and dehumanizing approaches and instead embrace solutions rooted in compassion, dignity, and real support.

We demand an end to encampment raids. We demand justice for this life cut short. And we demand a future where all people, regardless of their housing status, are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

With grief and resolve,

National Coalition for the Homeless

 

For Press Inquiries, please contact NCHโ€™s Executive Director, Donald Whitehead at DWhitehead@nationalhomeless.org.

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