A Los Angeles private school serving the city’s Black and Latino youth was forced to close its doors over public safety concerns stemming from the homelessness crisis, a lawsuit alleges.
Media Arts Academy founder Dana Hammond filed a lawsuit over the school’s closure, alleging a breach of contract with the building in which the school is located, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Hammond joined “Fox & Friends First” Tuesday to discuss why he felt he had no choice but to close the school after students were exposed to drug use, nudity, human feces and even trespassers.
“There are contract violations and extensions that the city continues to place…. over 400 of some of the highest need individuals, homeless individuals, that [are] suffering from drug addiction and drug addiction,” Hammond told host Carley Shimkus.
“My mother is on drugs, sick, that’s why I started this work in terms of preparing students for the future of work, and it’s just trespasser after trespasser, indecent exposure,” he continued.
The school had to be closed due to encroachment by many drug users nearby. Dana Hammond, ‘Fox & Friends First’
“I’m sitting in my office today at Third and Fig in our classroom. Our students get a chance to see… the Intercontinental Hotel, but they also have to deal with individuals who are naked in the back, doing drugs in the back. He goes on and on, smoking weed in front of our school.”
Hammond decided to close the school, located in the LA Grand Hotel, in January. The same hotel has been used in recent years as temporary housing for homeless residents, according to the Times.
He claims he found crack pipes and drugs on the property as well as human feces, which ultimately led to the decision to close the school.
Dana Hammond, founder of the Media Arts Academy, said there was a breach of contract with the building where the school is located, according to the Los Angeles Times. FOX News
Despite a multibillion-dollar effort to get residents off the streets and back on their feet, city officials fear homelessness rates could continue to rise for a variety of reasons.
Clearing the streets of Los Angeles of homeless people has been one of Mayor Karen Bass’s main campaign promises.
Since his election in 2022, he has moved more than 21,000 people into temporary housing, according to the Associated Press.
Hammond said he found crack pipes and drugs on the property as well as human feces. Dana Hammond, ‘Fox & Friends First’
Hammond previously blamed Bass’s handling of the homeless crisis as the reason his school had to close.
Bass spokeswoman Clara Karger told the Times the mayor’s team has been working with Hammond on his concerns, despite criticism, through additional fencing, visits and cooperation with security personnel.
Even so, Hammond warned he had no choice but to close because someone “will die” if current trends continue.
“If we ask them to move… it will be worse in a fight with one of our security guards,” he said. “Unfortunately we lost enrollment, and then on January 10, we had intruders high on LSD entering our classrooms, entering our campus… Someone was going to die, and I had to get our students out of here.”
In 2023, officials reported more than 75,500 people were homeless on any given night in LA County, a 9% increase from the previous year, and about 46,200 in the city of Los Angeles.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
