The Nation : Homeless Activists Wreck Subway Gates

Angered at the city’s refusal to open buildings to shelter street people, homeless activists tore down fences at four Washington subway stations. “People are outside with virtually no place to go without risking injury or death,” said Mitch Snyder, head of the Community for Creative Non-Violence. The subway system had erected the outer gates last fall and winter after complaints that homeless people were fouling the stairwells. A District of Columbia Superior Court judge denied a request for a court order to force the city government to open buildings as emergency shelters throughout the holidays. This forced the homeless activists’ attack on the fences, Snyder said.