A Seattle parent said Friday he found a samurai sword and a throwing axe in a homeless encampment sprawled near his son’s kindergarten school.
Ryle Goodrich told Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” that he found the dangerous objects while inspecting the territory of one of the camps. Two school campuses in Seattle have been “inundated with homeless encampments” since the outbreak of COVID-19.
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“The encampment is completely unmanaged and out of control so I have to go through there every night and see what’s going on. This Sunday I walked through and I found a samurai sword lying upright next to a tent unattended,” Goodrich said.
“Then the day after that was Monday I went through there was someone with a throwing ax right in the middle of the trail, surrounded by tents and throwing it at this target, you know repeatedly hitting the bullseye,” the parent added.
Goodrich also pointed out that the camps have become “very unsafe” due to shootings, fighting and drug use. “There is a lot else that’s going on there. Doesn’t belong anywhere near schools and again the attack yesterday happened during school hours for all the kids to see at recess. They’ve got a front-row seat,” he noted. (RELATED: City In California Pays Homeless People Gift Cards To Clean Their Tents)
However, Seattle School Board President Chandra Hampson and Director Zachary DeWolf have issued a statement on the unacceptability of removing the encampments.
“Our students deserve to see the adults behave compassionately and responsibly in the face of a tragically mounting homelessness crisis. Sweeps are not a form of compassion nor do they demonstrate responsible adult behavior. In fact, they are decidedly inhumane and irresponsibly set people struggling with homelessness further into the margins,” the statement read.