“You’re telling me I’m under arrest for sitting outside?” Markael Raybon asked as police placed him in handcuffs.
“Yes, you’re under arrest for having an illegal encampment,” officer Alejandro Tiffer replied as he put Raybon in the back of a patrol car.
“It’s already happening,” Tiffer continued. “You’re already in handcuffs, and you’re sitting in the back of my car.”
These events are seen in a newly released video, obtained by homeless advocate Hazel Williams through a public records request, showing Raybon’s confusion as police arrested him for sitting in a tent under the Central Freeway on July 30 — the day a crackdown on homelessness began.
His arrest marked the first of more than 270 since a court order restricting San Francisco’s ability to clear homeless encampments was lifted on July 30.
The video highlights a quirk of the city’s sweeps policy: While homeless people can be placed under arrest for refusing to accept shelter, they can also be arrested for having shelter and being in a tent on the street.
Police detained Raybon in the police car for roughly 20 minutes before releasing him, the video shows. An officer can be heard reprimanding Raybon for his sidewalk tent because he already has a city-funded shelter bed.
“You’re already housed. That means you shouldn’t be out here on the streets,” the officer said.
“So I’m supposed to be under arrest because I’ve got a house?” Raybon responded. “You’re telling me I can’t come outside?”
“Yes, you’re supposed to be inside,” the officer said. “You’re basically lodging here.”
City workers on the scene appeared to know Raybon and said they’d arrested him before.
“He was tripping off the weed before,” one officer is heard saying as another smirks.
Several of Raybon’s friends told The Standard he sleeps at a tiny home shelter in the Mission but keeps a tent outside to store belongings and socialize.
“That law is bullshit,” said Raybon’s friend Ricky Walker of his arrest. “It’s basically a shelter in place, you’re confined to where you live.”
Shelters “actively discourage guests from keeping tents outside,” according to the city’s Good Neighbor Policy. The Mission tiny home shelter has an outdoor area for guests to hang out, but they aren’t allowed visitors.
Roughly 35% of homeless people left on the street after outreach operations say they already had housing or shelter, homeless department data shows. Some experts argue this points to a need for more housing and accommodating shelters where guest visits are allowed.
Others say visible homelessness angers the public and undermines city efforts.
“The visual matters in this case, especially in this election year,” Homelessness Oversight Commissioner Dena Aslanian-Williams, who was appointed by Mayor London Breed, said during an Oct. 10 meeting. “You’re already spending the money for everything that the shelter is providing, and yet you don’t see the result.”
‘Out here, you have freedom’
During a subsequent encampment clearing witnessed by The Standard on Oct. 24, Raybon’s tent was almost removed again — from the same spot where he was arrested on July 30 — while he visited his wife in the hospital, according to his friends. But Walker moved the campsite around the corner before city staffers arrived.
“I just hate to see him lose all his stuff every time,” Walker said as he stood watch during the sweep.
Ezekiel Williams, a 37-year-old homeless man, wasn’t so lucky. About two hours into the Oct. 24 sweep, officers arrested Williams after he protested the city’s disposal of his tent.
A city spokesperson said the tent was soiled and couldn’t be stored with the other belongings.
“It’s always something different every fucking time,” Williams yelled as he stood handcuffed against a wall surrounded by 10 police officers. “Y’all never been homeless, so you don’t understand.”
After over two hours had passed and the team had cleared one tent and a vehicle, the two dozen city workers called it a day. A city worker took Williams to a shelter, and police booked his tent as evidence. A DEM spokesperson said city staff engaged with six homeless people and placed two into shelter.
But by 5 p.m., Williams was back on the corner smoking a pipe with Walker.
“Shelter’s got all these rules and regulations,” Walker said. “You hang out here because you have freedom.”