Academic

Elected official uses sledgehammer to destroy homeless people?s possessions

A state representative in Hawaii is going around town with a sledgehammer smashing the belongings of homeless people to bits. He is "disgusted" by the homeless, doesn't want to see them, and is so proud of his actions that he happily allows himself to be filmed while swinging the hammer at the meager possessions of the most vulnerable people in our society.

This vigilante isn?t just some random citizen -- he's five-term State Rep. Tom Brower (D).

?I want to do something practical that will really clean up the streets,? he explained to Hawaii News Now as he showed off his property destruction skills while sporting an Armani Exchange hat.

Not content to just destroy homeless people?s items, Brower is also on a mission to wake those he finds sleeping and tell them to sleep somewhere else. ?If someone is sleeping at night on the bus stop, I don?t do anything, but if they are sleeping during the day, I?ll walk up and say, ?Get your ass moving,?? he said.

It?s no stretch to assume that if Brower were found roaming middle-class neighborhoods and smashing items in people?s homes, he would find himself both out of office and behind bars. But segments of society view homeless people as less important and undeserving of the dignity of having their possessions kept safe.

Read the Hawaii News Now story here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on November 19, 2013 (boomark / email).