An Oakland jogger had enough and destroyed a homeless man's encampment while allegedly throwing parts of it into Lake Merritt
As bystanders were trying to reason with him to stop, he explains, “I’m picking up trash, what do you want me to do?”
Kenzie Smith and JJ Harris recorded a viral video (over 270K views at the time of this article) along with a few other bystanders, of the unidentified jogger while he insists that he's simply "taking out the trash." The jogger wasn't caught on camera actually throwing the items into the lake, but you can hear a bystander say, "I saw you drag it and throw it in."
UPDATE: Just recently another video appeared to show what could be the same man attempting to do some more "cleaning" at the same location near Lake Merritt. (Watch the video below)
The homeless man who lived at the encampment shown in the video is only identified as "Drew." Since the incident with the jogger, the local community has gotten together to donate food and clothing to the homeless man.
There is even a GoFundMe page set up by Kenzie Smith to help Drew get back on his feet:
All donations will go towards our goal of replacing everything that was thrown in the lake including:
- clothing
- shoes
- food
- bedding
- other essential items
If we meet our goal, we'd also be able to get him a tent so he can sleep more peacefully and his belongings can be more protected. Drew told us that would help him feel more safe after this incident.
Some may also remember the famous BBQ Becky incident which happened just last month at the same lake in Oakland.
UPDATE: Just recently another video appeared to show what could be the same man attempting to do some more "cleaning" at the same location near Lake Merritt while assaulting the camera man who started asking questions.
Another angle of the 1st video:
Photo: A homeless man (C) sleeps at a homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River beside Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California on January 23, 2018. January 22 reports said authorities planned to clear out Orange County's largest homeless encampment with some 500 people living in tents. Angel Stadium is home to Major League Baseball's Anaheim Angels. (Photo credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)