Denver business owner whose 'poop' protest against City Hall went viral demands solutions
A Denver business owner who went viral last week for moving the human waste left around his building to city hall is demanding politicians start enforcing the laws against homeless people and "vagrants" leaving waste all over Denver.
A Denver think tank president and radio host who went viral last week for transporting the human waste left on his building to City Hall is demanding politicians start seriously enforcing the laws against the homeless people and "vagrants" leaving waste around Colorado's capital.
Jon Caldara, a local columnist and the head of libertarian think tank Independence Institute, told FOX News Digital he is frustrated and angry over Denver politicians not doing anything about the "biohazard" that homeless people and drug users have left in the city’s streets.
"People should be able to walk around and go to work without stepping over bottles, puddles of urine and vomit. And human feces," Caldara declared.
The issue has gotten so tiresome for Caldara that last week, he took feces that was left on the premises of the Independence Institute and dumped it on the steps of the Denver City and County Building. He took a photographer with him and talked to Denver media afterward.
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Independence Institute founder Jon Caldara speaks to FOX News Digital about dealing with homeless people leaving feces and used syringes on the premises of his think tank in Denver, Colorado. (Gabriel Hays/Fox News)
At the time he told CBS Colorado, "This is a present from the homeless to the people who have kept this homeless problem going."
Caldara explained his reasons for the protest, telling FOX News, "We have to clean up litter, trash bottles, needles, used condoms, vomit, urine and human feces. In other words, these people come here and party like rock stars. And we're the ones that have to clean up after them regularly."
He said the offending people were to blame for their individual actions, but noted that the societal "fault lies at the people who are running the city at City Hall."
Caldara stated he's fed up with having to deal with it.
"So, regular citizens, business owners, organization owners, homeowners are left to clean up their waste. I'm tired of it. So, it's time for a little civil disobedience," Caldara said, adding, "We have to clean up this stuff anyway, so instead of cleaning it up, deliver it to City Hall and remind the people who are at the root of this problem that it's their problem and challenge them to clean it up."
Jon Caldara dumps human excrement on the steps of Denver's City Hall last week in protest of the city's homelessness policies. (Tracie Smith / Independence Institute)
The business owner argued the authorities in Denver "seem to care more about the vagrants than the people that the vagrants are committing crimes to. If our leaders cared just one-tenth as much [about] victims of crime as they do the perpetrators of crime, our streets would be clean."
He added that city authorities are "overwhelmed by policies of their own making," and contrasted Denver’s homeless and crime problems with those in Colorado Springs, where he said, "The problem is not nearly as intense."
Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has said homelessness is his office's top priority, according to CBS Colorado. Last month, he outlined a plan to spend nearly $50 million on a proposal to get 1,000 people off the streets.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for Johnston said his administration was focused on making true change for the city.
"On his first full day in office, Mayor Johnston declared a State of Emergency on homelessness with a goal of bringing 1,000 unsheltered Denverites indoors by the end of the year," Johnston spokeswoman Jordan Fuja said. "Just last week, Mayor Johnston announced Denver’s first successful housing encampment resolution. After identifying 70 unsheltered residents to be assigned for relocation at an encampment, the city moved 83 individuals directly off the street to converted hotel units. The block where the encampment was located is now permanently closed to all camping through activation of the local neighborhood and enforcement. At this location, not a single person formally declined the housing options the city offered. Going forward, Mayor Johnston’s administration will continue to connect people experiencing homelessness to transitional supportive housing options and permanently closing encampments across the city. This is a first for the city and a monumental step toward achieving Mayor Johnston’s housing initiative."
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Caldara, who also writes a column for The Colorado Springs Gazette, claimed that city "enforces the law." He said Colorado Springs "has compassion for the homeless and the addicted and the mentally ill, but has a system where the law is enforced first."
Condemning Denver’s policies, he said, "We give housing first and then afterwards maybe we'll try to enforce the law… I've never seen anything like this. This is what happens when you have progressive policies run amok."
When asked if he will be dropping more feces on City Hall in the future, Caldara gave an affirmative answer.
Images of a needle and broken glass at the Independence Institute in Denver, Colorado. (Jon Caldara)
"When the poop comes back on the doorstep of the Independence Institute, it will be picked up because we have to pick it up. And instead of throwing it in the dumpster, we'll just throw it on City Hall," Caldara said.
He called on others to follow his example, saying, "And I hope other people, no matter what city you live in, take a similar action. It’s time for a little civil disobedience. And what would happen? Will they arrest me? Will they throw me in jail? It’s not my poop."
He added, "What an amazing hypocrisy, that they might enforce the law when it’s their property but not when it’s private property. Wouldn’t that say everything, right?"
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This article was updated with a response from Mayor Johnston's office.