Rumors that the Obama administration was giving away $3,000 “stimulus checks” started the ruckus. The Detroit Police Department’s Gang Squad, along with other tactical units, were called in for crowd control purposes. From the FOX story:
Scuffles erupted as several thousand Detroit residents jockeyed, pushed and shoved Wednesday to get free money being offered to only 3,500 of the city’s recently or soon to be homeless.
Several received medical treatment for fainting or exhaustion while frantically trying to obtain the applications for federal housing assistance. The long lines and short tempers highlighted the frustration and desperation that Detroit residents feel struggling through an economic nightmare.
The line around Cobo Center, a downtown convention center, started forming well before daybreak. Anger flared within a few hours as more people sought out a dwindling number of applications for the program.
The city was distributing applications for the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program, and its bureaucrats will decide what 3,500 people will get a maximum of $3,000. The city’s application, planning, and approval process is, I’m sure, a “stimulus” program all on its own, providing a lot of work for the government’s tax eaters. This was seen as a gift from Obama because his cheerleaders among the masses knew he would take care of them – food, gas, mortgage, and all. As desperation materializes, and the reality becomes clear – that there is only job destruction in Detroit and the surrounding area, not job creation – both people in genuine need, and those who spend their lives plotting and taking and feeding off the system, will become more agitated and more demanding, and the unrest will escalate. Considering the limits of the cash freebie, what happens when those 46,000+ people get turned down for assistance? The Detroit News reported:
Wednesday’s line stretched for blocks and before the process could be completed at least six people were taken away by ambulance, 150 police were called to the scene and the city stopped distributing applications before noon.
View the startling photographs from the Detroit News (right side). Here’s a video from WDIV news.
