Homeless activists, losing patience with L.A., demand government officials commandeer hotel rooms

Terrance Whitten rests in the shade at Pan Pacific Park on May 1, 2020, in Los Angeles. The 67-year-old has been waiting in the queue for nine days to get into a hotel room. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)

by: Los Angeles Times

Posted: May 3, 2020 / 10:31 AM PDT

Updated: May 3, 2020 / 10:31 AM PDT

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Not long after L.A. County reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases on Friday, Davon Brown decided he was done putting himself at risk. So he put on a blazer and went to the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles.

Joined by activists from Street Watch L.A., he told hotel staff they were interested in renting several rooms but wanted a tour first. The concierge happily obliged, he said, and took the group to room 2221.

Then he revealed his plan: “I’m homeless in Echo Park and I’m not leaving this hotel.”

Brown, who was later arrested and released, told The Times that he had planned to stay until government officials had commandeered enough hotel rooms to house every homeless person in Los Angeles.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.