Holding bright yellow signs that read “Sweep the billionaires, not the homeless,” a small group of protesters gathered in downtown Austin on Thursday to oppose homeless encampment sweeps and service closures ahead of South by Southwest.
Members of VOCAL-TX, an advocacy group for low-income people, said the festival — one of Austin’s largest annual events — has come at a cost: the clearing of homeless encampments in downtown areas to prepare for the influx of visitors.
“Our protest is actually focused on the encampment sweeps that are happening leading up to South By. There’s an increase in the efforts to remove people from downtown and from the service areas,” Eli Cortez, an organizer with VOCAL-TX told the American-Statesman, adding that the festival has also forced the nonprofit Caritas, which works to prevent and end homelessness, to close during the festival due to road closures…