Public Raises Over $12K for Homeless Man After Jogger Threw Out All His Belongings
An Oakland vigilante has become known as #JoggerJoe, for heartlessly tossing a homeless man’s belongings into the trash. Despite bystanders asking the jogger to stop, the man refused.
It all started on June 8 in Oakland, California, when resident JJ Harris saw a troubling scene at Lake Merritt. A jogger was rummaging through a homeless man’s stuff, tossing his blankets into the lake and throwing items in the trash.
The jogger was identified as 31-year-old Henry Sintay, who insisted he was doing the right thing by cleaning up the area.
“I’m picking up trash, what do you want me to do?” Sintay said in the video.
Warning: this video contains explicit language toward the end. Viewer discretion is advised.
Yesterday in Oakland jogger found throwing a peaceful homeless man’s possessions in the Lake. . What has this town come to?! #JoggerJoe #BbqBecky #Oakland pic.twitter.com/QAldK6VIRy
— JJ Harris (@techboogie) June 9, 2018
Sintay said the stuff was “going everywhere” and told bystanders they could help. Oakland residents were left disgusted by Sintay’s cruel, callous actions, and banded together to fight back by helping the homeless man, Drew, get back on his feet.
A GoFundMe page was set up by Kenzie Smith, who has felt the sting of injustice in a personal way. Smith was at Lake Merritt with a friend when a white woman called the police to report them for barbecuing in a public park.
Smith rallied Oakland residents to stand up for Drew, requesting donations for clothing, blankets, and a tent so that Drew could contain his belongings.
People have done more than that, raising over $13,000 on Drew’s behalf as of June 16.
#JoggerJoe arrested after throwing homeless man’s belongings in lake https://t.co/kGSPqsBEZ7 pic.twitter.com/F6RVlKvaVz
— Mercury News (@mercnews) June 13, 2018
“Like the thousands of other people in the Bay Area without homes, Drew is one of our neighbors,” Smith wrote. “We’re disgusted that someone thought it was OK to treat Drew this way and want to show him through our care that what happened to him is unacceptable.”
Harris is thrilled with the outpouring of community support. “Everybody is busy kind of getting by, but the only way that we can really change and turn the tables is to help each other and stand by our communities,” Harris told CNN.
Sintay was arrested on June 11 on suspicion of first-degree robbery. He’s in jail with a bond set at $100,000 while waiting for a court appearance on June 20.
Mary Glig, the deputy director of the Homeless Action Center in Oakland, explained that trash is in the eye of the beholder. “What looks like trash to us might not be trash to the person to (whom) it belongs,” she told CNN.
Among the trash likely lies important documents such as identification papers, or social service information that can be difficult to replace. “When those things get thrown away, it’s another roadblock to getting out of homelessness,” Glig said.
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