Statement from Alex Brown Regarding Murder at Teichert Ponds

Councilmember Brown’s statement summed up our concerns so eloquently, we wanted to share directly.

TW: death of an unhoused community member

Before yesterday’s City Council meeting, almost 100 people gathered to honor the life of Guy Steven Vanzant — a homeless man who was shot and killed this week at Teichert Ponds — and to call for justice. Losing any life due to the conditions on the street is a tragedy, but losing an unhoused neighbor due to violence hits a particular chord for many of us. While this is an ongoing investigation with few details to be shared by the police department, there have been several accounts by those present during the shooting that Steven was shot by assailants who were specifically targeting the unhoused. The mere thought of that should be unacceptable to any of us. Yet, if any of us have watched the conversation about people experiencing homelessness devolve -- most notably on social media but certainly in chambers and in public as well -- we may not be surprised by this senseless violence.

Over the past few years, we have all watched as political PACs, Facebook groups, politicians, and regular citizens have promoted hatred and disdain for the unhoused. Using dehumanizing language like “vagrants,” “druggies,” and worse, allowing threats and the suggestion of violence toward a group to go unchecked in public forums…these things often lead to extremism and violence.

If you think language and framing don’t matter, you’re wrong. And when a group or groups work so hard to dehumanize and scapegoat a population -- particularly a population that has been cast out and historically marginalized by society -- you can expect aggression and violent behavior against that group to escalate. Countless examples in society exist to that effect, and in our microcosm of a community that same reality holds true.

We have to do better than this. I am calling on the entire community -- whether you agree with the premise of housing for all or not -- to check yourselves and to check each other. The culture of hostility toward people on our streets, people who want to help them, and people who advocate on their behalf has to stop. This is not who we are, nor who we want to be.

Rest in Peace, Guy Steven Vanzant and far too many others who have died on the streets of Chico this year.