Mystery behind a demolished Chattanooga homeless camp
"I feel like I’ve been kicked around. I’m already down far enough. Why would you kick me even more? I’m already down. I’m a homeless person and you’re making it worse on a homeless person," said Henry Knotts.
He was expressing his frustration after the homeless camp he shared with other homeless people was demolished.The camp was nestled under the Broad Street overpass and had been there for more than a decade. On Friday a construction crew came through and wiped it.
Knotts recalled the moment a police officer told him he had to go.
"He said I need to get my stuff and get out right now. You need to get your stuff and leave. They’re getting ready to bulldoze this place down," Knotts told News 12.
He also said he recalled asking the officer why he was being pushed out.
"The statement was made that somebody with a lot of money don’t want you here," Knotts said.
Homeless advocates told News 12 they were upset by the sudden demolition because they were not notified well in advance.
"We have an arrangement with law enforcement here in Chattanooga where they will contact us or other homeless agencies to come out and peacefully move people off of property in a place like this. In this case, neither us nor any other agency I know of was informed before hand," said Relevant Hope Founder Dillon Burroughs.
TDOT owns the overpass and the land under it, but a TDOT spokesperson told News 12 they didn’t demolish the camp. Collier Construction is building new homes several hundred feet from the overpass, but the developer said he didn’t order crews to go in with bulldozers either. City officials also said they had no knowledge of the demolition and were just hearing about the incident after News 12 inquired about it.
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