October 20, 2026   901 G Street NW, Washington, D.C.

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After the August account,

new photographs raise the

same question: Where are our unhoused neighbors supposed to go?

A garbage truck on the sidewalk. Workers nearby. Bags and loose belongings gathered beside a tree.

Outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the latest photographs show a scene painfully familiar to readers of my August 20 article: a white-cab, orange-bodied refuse truck positioned on the paved area outside the building, with black queue barriers separating portions of the walkway. Nearby, bags, fabric, and other items sit on the ground.

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This is another reported removal at the same place where I previously described unhoused neighbors returning from inside the library to discover their belongings gone.

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The photographs document the truck, the workers, and the items on the sidewalk. They do not establish what happened to every item, whether owners received notice, or whether anyone was offered storage or somewhere safe to go. Those unanswered questions are not a reason to look away. They are precisely what the city should have to answer.

A familiar scene, an unresolved problem

My August account described belongings being thrown into a compactor while their owners were inside the library. That account raised a basic question about how Washington treats people who have nowhere private to keep what they own.

Now, the new images bring us back to the same sidewalk.

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In one photograph, the refuse truck occupies a substantial portion of the paved space alongside the library’s columns. In another, workers stand near bicycles and a cluster of bags and other items. What the images cannot show is the decision-making behind this operation: what was designated as trash, who made that determination, and how someone’s possessions were distinguished from discarded material.

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A bag on a sidewalk does not explain itself. Neither does a photograph. That is why a removal requires more scrutiny than a before-and-after picture of a cleared public space.

Public space should not mean disposable people

There is no contradiction between maintaining an accessible sidewalk and recognizing the dignity of the people who use it.

The question is not whether public spaces need care. The question is whether that care extends to people with nowhere else to put their belongings.

Before another operation is described as routine cleanup, the public deserves clear answers:

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• What notice did people receive?

• How were personal possessions identified and protected?

• Were any belongings stored, and how can owners retrieve them?

• What shelter or housing options were actually available?

• Which agency authorized the operation, and who is accountable for its conduct?

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These are not demands for special treatment. They are demands for transparency and basic respect.

What happens after the truck leaves?

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The August article ended by asking where people were forced to go.

That question remains unanswered here. A cleared sidewalk cannot tell us whether anyone reached safety, kept their possessions, or moved closer to housing.

Outside a library named for Dr. King, we should expect more than the appearance of order. We should expect a response that recognizes the people still standing there after the cleanup is over.

Moving someone out of sight is not the same as giving them somewhere to go.

#WAITDC  #We'reallinthistogether #Whereamitoday