Three homeless activists are likely to have their charges dropped following their arrest by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks during an “Inside Safe” encampment sweep last month.
Carla Orendorff and Paisley Mares of Aetna Street Solidarity and the San Fernando Valley Homeless Union, and Jennifer Rodzianko of San Fernando Valley Mutual Aid, were detained and released on July 31 in Van Nuys.
“What we saw on July 31 was a violent assault on an incredible community that was displaced that day – [that] was scattered across eight different motels across the city from Canoga Park to Highland Park,” said Orendorff. “People lost everything. They lost their homes, they lost property … and less than half of the people living there got temporary motel rooms.”
According to the activists, only 30 beds were offered through the Inside Safe program to the more than 75 people who resided in the encampment.
The three claimed they were not obstructing or preventing people from leaving the compound, but were helping unhoused people collect their belongings and were attempting to present a list of demands to officials.
Orendorff was aggressively detained by park officials, who pulled her arms away from her body, dragged her across the street and ripped her pants off when apprehending her.
“What the park rangers did should happen to no one,” said Orendorff. “It’s a grossly excessive [use of] force. … It was a very targeted and specific type of violence … meant to make you feel ashamed.”
Orendorff added that she’s witnessed the same violence against houseless women in the past, who have been forced to choose between their clothes and their beds by the LA Police Department.
The three activists were handcuffed and detained at the site, but released once the encampment sweep was completed.
As he was being apprehended, Mares recalled Chief Park Ranger Joe Losorelli telling him, “This is going to be your last protest. I’m gonna make sure you get locked up for a year.”
The three were cited for obstructing a work zone. Mares and Orendorff were also cited with resisting arrest charges.
When appearing at the Van Nuys courthouse for their hearings on Aug. 22, with the support of around 30 community members, Orendorff’s and Rodzianko’s cases were rejected at the clerk’s window, while Mares’ court filing was postponed.
“Today was a really somber, sad day, scary day, and it turned into a really beautiful day,” Rodzianko noted about the mood coming out of the courthouse.
“What they do breaks people,” she continued. “It breaks the unhoused folks that they’re directly committing this violence against, but it also breaks the folks that are trying to build something new with them and build solidarity with them.”
“They rely on fear to control us. They use oppression to scare us into submission,” Mares added. “But it will never work, because we have love, because we have each other. Because for every one of us that they target, two, five, 10, 100 more of us will stand up.”
So far, no charges have been filed against the trio. The city has up to a year to file formal charges.
You can’t choose to live on the street if other options are presented to you. These activists are nit helping anyone.