Tensions high in San Francisco as city seeks reversal of ban on clearing homeless encampments

BY JANIE HAR
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tensions flared as lawyers for San Francisco argued before an appeals court to lift an injunction prohibiting the city from clearing homeless tent encampments. Mayor London Breed joined more than 200 people outside a federal courthouse Wednesday to urge an appellate panel to lift the order. But advocates for homeless people who sued the city last year say San Francisco was not offering shelter as required by law but threatening homeless people to move along or face arrest or citation. Frustration over homeless tents are playing out in court in other U.S. cities, largely in western states governed by the controversial U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.