A Wyoming mayor is speaking out about his city’s homeless population, claiming they wrecked a motel and dumped hundreds of pounds of human feces on the streets and sidewalks.
Casper Mayor Bruce Knell recently told Cowboy State Daily that the roughly 200 homeless persons who live there had made a “mess.”
“It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. It’s third-world-country stuff happening in Casper, Wyoming,” he said.
Knell stated that city employees had to clean up approximately 500 pounds of human feces downtown, where a substantial section of the homeless population congregates, while others sleep in surrounding parks or in their automobiles.
“In desperate times people do desperate things, and unfortunately we’re the ones left having to deal with it,” Knell said.
According to the mayor, in addition to defecating on the streets, homeless persons “destroyed” a vacant motel. Knell claims they have been squatting in Casper’s former Econo Lodge motel, causing millions of dollars in damage.
Images from news accounts show rubbish strewn across the floors of rooms and furniture dispersed. The city has since condemned the property, and the bank that owns it has boarded it up to keep squatters out.
“They destroyed everything. It’s horrible,” Knell said. “It was unsafe.”
Squatters take over Wyoming city: Vagrants leave millions of dollars worth of damage to motel and 500lbs of human feces in downtown area – as Casper fights off a homeless invasion https://t.co/CwQTHrKDHp pic.twitter.com/XLfdTg96ki
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 4, 2023
According to local news sources, some homeless persons squat in abandoned houses and structures that lack running water and power. According to Knell, many homeless individuals visit Casper for the homeless refuge. Not everyone is accepted, others are sent away, and many of the homeless persons who are turned away never leave the city.
“There’s a certain part of the homeless population, whether substance abuse or mental illness, that is getting them to where they don’t want to conform to society’s rules,” the mayor reportedly said. “When they do that they’re not allowed to go in the shelter, which means they’re just out and about in our community raising hell.”
Casper’s city council is considering making the city less accessible and hospitable to homeless people. They are “causing so many problems,” according to Knell, and the police “need some teeth to start dealing with the squatting.”
This is what occurs when you decide not to enforce existing laws such as no trespassing, no loitering, and so on, but instead make excuses because you don’t want to “be mean to homeless people.”
This is what weak leadership looks like.
It starts at the top and then trickles down.
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