Cop Says “Get a Hotel” to Homeless USMC Veteran and Gives Him a Ticket for Sleeping in His Van

Cop Says “Get a Hotel” to Homeless USMC Veteran and Gives Him a Ticket for Sleeping in His Van



Nearly 60,000 veteran men and women who’ve served their country are homeless and being persecuted by the same system they pledged to care for them in return for their service to this country.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (via military.com Jan. 6, 2014), that as of January 2012, more than 60,000 veterans were homeless, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

homeless-veterans

Colyer moved from Seattle, WA to California last year to look for his 2-year-old son. Since then, he’s been beaten, arrested, and is homeless. Colyer was finally able to purchase a van which got him off the street and now he’s being told that it’s illegal to sleep in it.

Colyer cannot afford a place to stay at the moment, so his van provides much needed shelter. However, the Alameda Police Department doesn’t care if Colyer is homeless, or that he’s a Veteran, or that he has no other place to sleep but in his van; which is why they came banging on his van door in the middle of the night.

“I am a homeless veteran, I have PTSD, and you are giving me a ticket for sleeping; there is no sign saying no parking – I am not parked illegally.”





Colyer was cited for “Habitating in a Vehicle.”

“Move and leave and go somewhere else,” says the officer.

“Where am I supposed to sleep?” asks Aaron.

“Get a hotel,” the officer callously replies.



As more and more people find themselves in this unfortunate situation, the government is reacting with force instead of aid.

Eighteen percent of cities now ban sleeping in public and 42% of cities ban sleeping in vehicles.

Anyone else wondering if Colyer would have been cited if he were an illegal, or would he have been given a meal and a bus ticket.

Thank you for your service Aaron Colyer.