Salem's Homeless Fear Anticipated Police Sweeps

The division of the classes widens daily.

Justin and Anna being interviewed by another reporter at Monday's 'Occupy Salem' event.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Homeless residents in Salem say they are scared, wondering if police are going to soon clear them out their makeshift living arrangements just as the weather gets cold. It could be called a cruel sentence for an unemployed population long denied proper health care and access. Police in Salem do historically route the homeless from encampments.

A man and woman attending the Occupy Salem event that kicked off Monday, named 'Anna' and 'Justin' say living without a home is hard, there are predators and thieves and a need to maintain any level of personal security possible is essential, that that typically leads people to homeless camps, where the poorest of the poor attempt to survive amid the worst possible conditions.

One of the common obstacles of peace is class warfare, and members of the homeless community say it is alive and well in Oregon's capitol city and that their problems are large enough without police doling out punishment over their economic status..

We are investigating two current stories; one in Salem, Oregon and one in nearby Polk County. The common theme in both stories is that people with money draw favoritism of police, and when the poor are criminally violated or even killed, sometimes little suspicion is directed toward the guilty party simply because they are more wealthy.

Indeed, discrimination against the poor here is a big problem, and there are no poorer Americans in this town than those living in the homeless camps.

Typical Salem residents don't even know the places people live because they are out of the way and not advertised. The inherent problems are crimes committed by homeless against homeless, but when residents too poor to keep a roof over their heads are intimidated by police, they are reluctant to report crime.

It seems unfair that people should be punished with criminal sanctions because they have been priced out of life by our inflation-driven bankers and employers who violate our dignities by making Americans pee in bottles so they can inspect your body fluids before employment.

It is a great way to screw people and little else. Funding that could address the nation's economic woes is used to create bombs to drop on the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Palestine and is

Resources are strained because of the nation's military/industrial complex and when the poor do secure assistance, they are still working within a system that is designed from top to bottom to scrub every last nickel out of our hardest working and hardest hit citizens, while ensuring that the top 1% and its uniformed minions, with fat salaries and benefit packages, feel no cold, no pain.

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Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.

Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. As News Editor, Tim among other things, is responsible for publishing the original content of 91 Salem-News.com writers. He reminds viewers that emails are easily missed and urges those trying to reach him, to please send a second email if the first goes unanswered. You can write to Tim at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com