I’m Papa Bear. That’s my alias. My real name is Abdullah. What’s coming down on the street - I know you’ve seen it in the papers - is Sit/Lie laws are starting to be enforced in the Haight area and big time in the Tenderloin.
The shelter beds were full. I slept in an alley. I was arrested. I had to accept the Judge’s ruling. One year probation, and a stay away order from the alley I slept in. If I’m caught in the alley I slept in, I get a year in county jail.
Having your freedom taken away is the worst thing that can happen to you. Someone telling you what to do - I’m my own man.
I’m a double Vet. I spent 2 years in the army, 2 years in the Marine and too many years in Vietnam. I fought hard and worked hard for this country. I died for this country. In Vietnam, I woke up on a cot and they took me to surgery for 56 hours. I’m still hurting.
Sit/Lie law is not joke. They are promoting it big time. Enforcing it big time. In the Tenderloin, there are more black and whites (cop cars), more undercover, and everyone is enforcing Sit/Lie.
People are scared. They’re terrified. You want to speak out, but people are scared. So many undercover, people are like, “man, we scared” - but you got to go to sleep soon, where you gonna go?