attack on homeless Archives

by Natalie Hanson & Leslie Layton
posted Feb. 21

Tom Covington curled up to sleep in a downtown Chico doorway on a January night near another unsheltered man. Both men were awakened around 2 a.m. by a flaming bag that was tossed on them and that burned Covington’s sleeping bag, hand and his right side. read more

Deceased individual found in Bidwell Park

Chico Police Department said a deceased person was found early today (April 28) at the One Mile Recreation Area.

Chico PD says a passerby noticed a subject seated near the restrooms that appeared to be deceased around 5:30 a.m., and the death was confirmed by medics.

The person’s identity has been withheld pending notification of family members, the press statement says.

Today’s press statement was the fifth “Death in Public” press release this year.

City attorney: “Public take over” was an emergency

In a Jan. 17 email to ChicoSol, City Attorney John Lam said the City was not in violation of the Brown Act when it held a Jan. 6 emergency meeting.

Lam said the use of City property near The Hands sculpture in back of the Municipal Center by the nonprofit Safe Space the previous day had amounted to a “public take over.”

Safe Space, which operates an emergency winter sheltering program, ran intake in the space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, an operation that it says proceeded smoothly. The group’s leadership said it believed that it was using public property as defined in the City code, and wasn’t required to get special permission.

Tag: attack on homeless

Unsheltered, Tom Covington faces hostility and sometimes violence Unhoused are not protected under hate crime law in California