A coalition of 40 mutual aid organizations and unhoused residents is demanding answers from Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez after a violent encampment sweep in her district left dozens of people without shelter, belongings, or safety during a week of flash flood warnings.
In a letter sent to Hernandez’s office, LA Street Care & Mutual Aid and other community groups described the October 9 sweep at Mountain View and Beverly Boulevard as devastating and ongoing harm. Witnesses said police arrived before dawn, slashed tents, zip-tied residents, and fingerprinted everyone present, including those who came to help friends pack up. Each person was cited under Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18, the city law that criminalizes sitting, lying, or storing property in public spaces. Advocates say the law and the sweeps it enables do nothing to address homelessness while inflicting trauma and violence on unhoused Angelenos.
According to the letter, LAPD prevented residents from retrieving their belongings until moments before city workers cleared the site. Everyone grabbed what they could carry before being chased out. The sweep destroyed every single tent, leaving every person at the encampment without shelter. Mutual aid organizers say Hernandez’s office was repeatedly asked to provide housing, replacement tents, or even an apology but offered none. “This is not what care looks like,” the letter reads. “This is certainly not what abolition looks like.”
Several unhoused residents reported that the same police officer who had sexually harassed and assaulted women during a previous sweep in August again oversaw the October operation. One survivor told Hernandez’s staff about the harassment months ago. That same officer has continued to patrol the area. He remains fixated on the people he targets and his harassment extends to both housed and unhoused women. CD1 has known about this officer’s conduct for more than two months and has taken no public action.
The situation at Mountain View has only worsened since the October 9 sweep. After being displaced, residents resettled across Beverly Boulevard, in Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez’s district. Since then, they have faced constant harassment from police and from housed neighbors. One man in a Lexus allegedly threatened to set the encampment on fire. People at the encampment say the same cops who brutalized them during the sweep continue to drive up and down the block, threatening to return.
Despite the violence and fear, residents at Mountain View describe a renewed sense of solidarity and determination. Their demands are straightforward. They want permanent housing or, at minimum, shelter with private space, bathrooms, quality meals, and mental health services, with offers put in writing. They want access to a P.O. box, help expunging 41.18 citations, and an end to police harassment. They want the portable toilet moved closer to where they were forced to relocate. These demands were first issued months ago but never met.
Before taking office, Hernandez was an outspoken critic of the city’s anti-homeless laws. In 2021, she posted that “41.18 is not going to solve this crisis. It just sweeps it under the rug.” Yet since she assumed office, 41.18 arrests in Council District 1 have reportedly risen more than 300 percent. Advocates say she has failed to repeal enforcement zones created by her predecessor Gil Cedillo and has instead allowed police to continue criminalizing her poorest constituents.
“When you order sweeps, you betray the promises you made before taking office,” the letter tells her. “You destroy documents, life-saving medicine, clothes, blankets, family photos, and tools used for work. You put predatory cops in direct contact with vulnerable people.”
Organizers say Hernandez’s silence in the face of this brutality has been deeply disappointing. Her office has not commented publicly on the sweep, the allegations of sexual assault, or the ongoing harassment. The community she represents is calling on her to act decisively, meet their demands, and end the violence carried out in her name.
“Stop sweeping the crisis in your district under the rug,” the letter concludes. “Start wielding your power. Meet the Mountain View Community’s demands. End sweeps and start fighting back against 41.18. We will make sure everyone’s watching.”