TULSA, Okla. — More than 250 tons of debris and hazardous material has been cleared from homeless encampments on state property since Gov. Kevin Stitt launched Operation SAFE.
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Stitt shares plan to use OHP to clear homeless camps in Tulsa
"It could be you," said Jewell Murphy. "All it takes is one mistake, one bad thing to happen."
Of the camps cleared across Tulsa in just the four days, Murphy's was one of them. He said he and his friends lost belongings when troopers went through their space on N. Lawton Ave. behind the Iron Gate.
WATCH: 'Where are we going to go?' Homeless react to Operation SAFE:
"It would have been nice if they gave us a, 'hey, this is the time,'" he said. “The troopers, I asked them, like, where are we supposed to go? He said oh, [Tulsa] Day Center, Salvation Army. Well, have you called them? Have you tried them? Every shelter in this town is full."
He's lost things before, living on the streets, but now with no safe place to stay for long durations, Murphy said it's more complicated.
Murphy did give grace and said the troopers he encountered were as nice as they could be, given the situation. He even said he understood elements of Operation SAFE and the cleanup in Tulsa.
The thing Murphy took the most significant issue with was the notion that the only reason people are on the streets is because of addiction.
“The bad thing is, people think it’s like, oh there’s nothing but druggies and drunks out there," he said. "No, they’re not. Everyone out here is not here because of drugs, alcohol, you know, you could move here and not have any family here and something go bad and then what?”
Murphy became homeless, he said, after losing his sister and struggling with mental health.
Since then, he's come across very little support to get him off the streets and back on his feet.
He shared a message with 2 News for the governor, urging him to look at the bigger picture.
“It’d be a lot easier, governor, if we worked together and you listened to the people, the people who are actually here," said Murphy. "My sister passed away and I lost my mind. I’m emotionally broken. That kills me every single day. You gonna send me to prison for that?"
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