Freedom Sleepers Continue to Face Harsh Weather
Rain showers persisted throughout the evening of the 75th Freedom Sleepers community sleepout, which was organized at Santa Cruz City Hall on December 13-14. In response to the weather, individuals slept at a variety of different locations around city hall to maintain their protest against local laws that criminalize homelessness. At the previous sleepout, held on the evening of December 6-7, the sleep protesters faced the coldest and harshest weather of the season thus far, with temperatures lowering into the mid-30s. Freedom Sleepers at city hall during the 75th Community Sleepout on December 13-14 The Freedom Sleepers are a coalition of unhoused and housed activists who have been sleeping weekly at Santa Cruz City Hall since July 4, 2015. They use sleep as an act of civil disobedience, and the primary demand of their protest is for the city to repeal its camping ban ordinance, which prohibits sleeping anywhere in public between the hours of 11 pm and 8:30 am. Additionally, s...