Police remove items from homeless camp outside Confederation Building

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary has removed items from a homeless protest site across from Confederation Building, as the demonstration continues into its third week.

RNC officers were seen around 1 p.m. NT on Tuesday moving tents and packing belongings into black tote bins. 

Police on the scene told CBC News officers are only removing tents that blew down during Monday's wet and windy weather because they don't want the debris to blow into the road. 

"You deserve to be treated with respect. And I think we've done a good job of maintaining that," RNC Insp. Steve Knight told the group that congregated at the encampment. "But we're at a situation now where public safety has been compromised, because of that weather last night."

The City of St. John's told CBC News it isn't responsible for collecting any garbage on the encampment's grounds, as that would fall on the owners of the property — which, in this case, is the Pippy Park Commission.

WATCH | See police taking down tent encampment, and hear protesters' reactions

Police have partly dismantled a tent encampment in St. John’s. Where will protesters go?

2 years ago

Duration 1:48

After more than three weeks, RNC officers moved in on the tent encampment outside Confederation Building. Some tents have been dismantled and protesters asked to move on, but many are asking where they are expected to go.

RNC media relations Const. James Cadigan also said police are taking the items from the encampment to RNC headquarters, where encampment residents can then pick up their belongings. 

He said police would not remove tents that are still standing. 

The removal was met with some hostility, as residents and supporters said some tents that had been taken down were abandoned only the night before and that those people were set to return.

In one instance, a man said he had his tent taken down while he was away for a medical appointment.

"There was no one in your tent," Knight told the man.

"Yeah, 'cause I was in hospital for two days," the man replied.

Some people leaving the encampment were seen walking toward the nearby College of the North Atlantic. The college had locked some of its side doors when security noticed "an unusually high amount of traffic entering the building" last week, according to a statement sent to CBC News, but the main doors remained unlocked.

Resident Davy Short, who has been living at the encampment for over two weeks, said he plans to continue staying opposite Confederation Building.

"They're saying they're going to put us in shelters and all that stuff. They put me in a shelter, and when I got there I had to be out again at 10 o'clock," Short told CBC News.

"I'm not going to stay in the shelter. I'd rather stay up here and fight it out."

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