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

photo by Leslie Layton
Tom Covington was struck by a flaming bag as he slept in a doorway.

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.

Covington was able to slap the fire out, but the men were disgusted and angry to find that the bag was full of feces. Covington’s wheelchair had been taken by one of the two men who had been lurking around them when they bedded down. read more