‘Like an animal’: Wilmington erects fence controlled by police at homeless encampment ahead of sunset eviction deadline

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Residents being evicted from a homeless encampment in Wilmington on Monday woke up to find the park they’ve been living in surrounded by a fence, with the entrances being controlled by city police officers.

Wilmington officials issued eviction notices last month to park inhabitants about a month after giving them city tents to use at the park.

Mayor John Carney’s office said the fence was put up because the park was now a work site. Asked why the city would establish a work site around people still living in tents in the park, Daniel Walker, Carney’s deputy chief of staff, said this was something the city did frequently.

“That is a standard thing, you see it anytime we renovate a park, any time we do deep operations, anytime there’s equipment that will be at the park,” he said.

Some of the park residents, who face a deadline of sunset to leave, said asking police officers whether they may enter or exit the fenced-in area made them feel like they were in prison.

“With the gate, I feel like an animal,” resident Nolan Lewis said. “I try my hardest not to act like one or present myself as one, but being the disrespect that I’ve been getting from them, I can turn into an animal real quick.”

Wilmington City Councilman Coby Owens said he appreciated their concerns.

“I absolutely understand how they could feel like that,” he said. “No one wants to be caged up. I’m shocked about this.”

Members of the media were barred from entering the fenced area to speak with park residents, along with some volunteers who were attempting to provide the people experiencing homelessness with water and food. Bottles of water were thrown over the fence so those fenced in could get access to them.

Owens said he was concerned about the legality of the fence barring media access to the encampment.

“I think, you know, you would want the press to be able to document everything, especially if, you know, you’re saying that your people are saying that they want services.”

In response to questions about possible First Amendment violations, a Delaware Department of Justice spokesperson said a civil rights investigator would be dispatched to the park to observe.

In a statement, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said the people at the park have done whatever the city has asked them, only to be evicted after it changed its mind.

“People in dire straits have, under the Mayor’s direction, moved into the park, heeded the City’s directives, had their belongings taken, and are now facing upheaval again after, for all intents and purposes, following orders,” Jennings said.

She said in the statement that she did not believe residents had committed a crime.

“Prosecuting them for remaining in the park would be unfair,” Jennings said. “It would be a moral failure.”

According to Walker, more than 50 Christina Park residents have been placed in some kind of temporary housing, shelter, treatment program or with family or friends. How long people can stay in those locations varies with the placements. People may be allowed to stay at the New Castle Hope Center for up to six months and other shelters for up to 90 days. Time lengths for treatment programs can vary.

But some residents say they are only being offered two-week motel stays.

“You’re giving us a two-week voucher, so after two weeks we’re on our own. We gotta figure it out,” said a Christina Park resident who goes by “Philly.”

The city said the two-week motel vouchers are being offered to people who “are refusing” to fill out applications or paperwork for temporary housing. They are also being offered to people who are in the process of getting into a shelter.

Walker said about 18 people have refused to engage with the placement process.

Activists and volunteers are planning a candlelight vigil starting around 6 p.m. Sunset is at 8:32 p.m. Christina Park residents said they were told by Wilmington police officers that they will be arrested if they don’t leave by the deadline.

Carney’s deputy chief of staff disputed that.

“A lot of what people are saying is made up,” Walker said.