AUSTIN, Texas — A homeless man is suing the City of Austin and Mayor Kirk Watson, alleging he was wrongfully removed from a nursing home while visiting his dying brother. The lawsuit, filed by Mark Thomas Cave, centers on an incident he says occurred in November of last year.
Cave said he had been feeding his brother at the nursing facility for 23 days when Austin police officers suddenly ordered him to leave. “I was expelled from the building. I was unfairly unofficially separated from my brother, who is dying in a nursing home,” he said, describing the first removal as taking place on November 11.
According to the lawsuit, six Austin police officers escorted Cave out of the building while he was inside during visiting hours. He claims the action was motivated by discrimination, stating that it happened because he is homeless and gay. “Six officers come rushing down the hallway. ‘Mark, stop there, or we’ll arrest you.’ For what? I’m there for visiting hours—picked up, carried outside and dumped outside the door,” he said…