Homeless sweeps of Kona community areas carried out despite ACLU’s warning

Despite demands from the American Civil Liberties Union Hawaii to stop park enforcement of homeless campers, police, Department of Parks and Recreation staff, and service agencies cleared homeless from the area fronting the Kona Aquatics Center early Wednesday morning. After clearing 23 individuals from Hale Halawai on May 24, Hope Services issued a statement on its Instagram account that read “houseless sweeps are violence” and called upon the community to take action against the sweeps. On Friday, ACLU Legal Director Wookie Kim sent a letter to Mayor Mitch Roth, Parks...