Seattle police reach out to ‘tent mansion’ folks

Correction: Seattle police are conducting outreach Thursday at the ‘tent mansion’ near the Seattle Center, complete with a keg, according to KIRO 7.

The inhabitants were reportedly being told by Seattle police to vacate the sidewalk to make way for new construction — new apartments and restaurants. But police clarified that they were conducting outreach.

.@SeattlePD out at the “tent mansion”. They are being told to vacate the sidewalk due to new construction. The property has been unoccupied for a couple years now but will be apartments and restaurants. pic.twitter.com/CdRaFdWLcV

— KIRO 7 Brooke (@KIRO7Brooke) June 7, 2018

This “tent mansion” has been up since early April, when KIRO TV’s Gary Horcher discovered the inhabitants refused help from the city, choosing instead to live on the street, than follow the rules of a shelter.

“We don’t want to change our lifestyle to fit their requirements,” Melissa Burns told Horcher. “We intend to stay here. This is the solution to the homeless problem. We want autonomy, right here.”

The report says she moved here from outside of Washington state.

A keg was spotted on the “porch” a few days ago.

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