St. Paul begins Pig's Eye encampment sweep amid protests
City crews began clearing the Pig's Eye Park encampment around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with outreach teams on site helping residents pack and offering limited storage and shelter priority.[1]
Volunteers and officials disagree on how many people live at Pig's Eye: volunteers say more than 100 people stay there.[2] The city estimates about 140 residents and noted a posted sign at the camp claims more than 250.[3] City officials say roughly 200 people live in the camps slated for clearing across St. Paul.[4] Ramsey County plans to open a transitional hub at 11th and Cedar to process displaced residents.[1] The city and county say outreach teams will continue follow-up after the clearings.[5]
In January 2025 St. Paul cleared a large encampment near the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary after hundreds of police and fire calls, and many people relocated to the Pig's Eye site. By December 2025 the Pig's Eye encampment had grown amid overcapacity shelters, and an internal task force began planning operations in early 2026. St. Paul and Ramsey County are now allocating more than $1 million to expand shelter capacity, including city funds to help Catholic Charities add 49 emergency beds.[5] Catholic Charities' expansion brings that site's total to 281 beds, but providers say shelters already run full or near full and the county's waitlist for permanent supportive housing tops 2,000.[6]
Early official messaging framed the closures as a public safety step after hundreds of emergency calls to encampments this year.[3] Later reporting and volunteer accounts highlighted addiction and mental-health needs at Pig's Eye and described semi-established living conditions, including gardens, chickens and many pets.[2] The sweep has drawn heavy opposition: more than 200 written public comments to the City Council and rallies at Pig's Eye as crews worked Wednesday morning, and some faith leaders asked for a pause so residents could secure IDs and phones.[3] Mayor Kaohly Her has not appeared publicly since news of a sexual-harassment complaint by the police chief became public and declined an interview request about the sweep.[1]
The mainstream summary emphasizes the city's framing of the encampment clearings as a public safety measure, but it overlooks critical perspectives from community members and activists who argue that these actions disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. For instance, social media commentary from @lydiakauppi highlights a lack of coordination with local organizations, suggesting that the city's approach may prioritize political optics over genuine support for those displaced. This sentiment is echoed by the packed city council chambers reported by @KSTP, where many residents voiced opposition to the mayor's plans, indicating a significant community backlash that the summary does not fully capture.
Additionally, while the mainstream account mentions the planned expansion of shelter capacity, it downplays the urgency of the situation reflected in the county's waitlist for permanent supportive housing, which exceeds 2,000 individuals. This statistic underscores the systemic issues surrounding homelessness in St. Paul, suggesting that the city's measures may be insufficient to address the underlying crisis. The summary also fails to acknowledge the established living conditions at Pig's Eye, including gardens and pets, which complicates the narrative of encampments as merely problematic spaces. These details reveal a more nuanced reality that challenges the simplistic framing of the situation as solely a public safety concern.[7], @lydiakauppi, @kare11
Show source details & analysis (7 sources)
📌 Key Facts
- City crews began clearing the Pig’s Eye Park encampment around 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, with outreach teams on site helping residents sort and pack belongings and the city offering limited storage and shelter priority for people who accept placements.
- Estimates of the camp’s population vary: volunteers estimate more than 100 people stay at Pig’s Eye, the city estimates about 140 residents there while a posted sign at the camp claims more than 250, and the city estimates roughly 200 people live in the camps slated for clearing across St. Paul.
- St. Paul and Ramsey County are allocating more than $1 million to expand shelter capacity, including $1 million to help Ramsey County open 49 new emergency beds at Catholic Charities, bringing that site’s total to 281 beds.
- Ramsey County reports there are more than 500 shelter beds countywide, about 300 people used night‑by‑night shelters in the last month, but its waitlist for permanent supportive housing tops 2,000 and shelters already run full or near full most nights.
- City and county outreach teams — including the HART, CARES and Familiar Faces teams — will continue follow‑up after clearings; Ramsey County plans a transitional hub at 11th and Cedar to process displaced residents, and the city is offering extended shelter check‑ins, temporary storage, help replacing IDs and assistance resolving warrants to reduce barriers to shelter use (HART, CARES and Familiar Faces teams).
- Long‑time volunteers and frontline outreach workers say addiction and mental‑health needs dominate the camp and warn that simply pushing people out will cause bigger problems; volunteers describe semi‑established living conditions at Pig’s Eye — including gardens, chickens and many pets — while providers say they are 'scrambling' and stretched very thin (Volunteers).
- Outreach groups such as Rising Waters Mutual Aid say they will shift to pop‑up stations and driving patrols after the clearings because scattered residents will be harder to find and treat.
- The closure plan prompted significant local opposition: the St. Paul City Council drew more than 200 written public comments (described as overwhelmingly opposed), an interfaith group asked for a pause to secure IDs and phones and expand capacity, Stop the Sweeps and other activists issued demands, and protesters rallied at Pig’s Eye during the sweep.
- St. Paul Police and Fire report more than 850 calls for service to encampments since July of last year — including fires, sexual assaults, thefts and overdose deaths — and city leaders say closures are necessary to protect both encampment residents and the broader community.
- Mayor Kaohly Her has not appeared in public since news broke of a sexual‑harassment complaint by St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry and declined a FOX 9 interview request about the sweep.
📰 Source Timeline (7)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
- City crews began clearing the Pig's Eye Park encampment around 8 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, confirming the sweep is moving from planning to active execution.
- Outreach teams are on site helping residents sort and pack belongings, and the city is offering limited storage space with priority for people who accept shelter placements.
- Ramsey County plans to open a transitional hub at 11th and Cedar following the closure to process displaced residents.
- Faith leaders and some elected officials specifically asked for a pause so residents could get IDs and cell phones and so shelter capacity could be expanded; they say they fear losing track of vulnerable people.
- Activists were actively rallying at Pig's Eye on Wednesday morning as the clearing proceeded, highlighting on-the-ground resistance.
- FOX 9 reports that Mayor Kaohly Her has not appeared in public since news broke of a sexual harassment complaint by St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry, and the outlet notes she declined an interview request about the sweep.
- St. Paul City Council will hold a special meeting and public hearing at noon Tuesday to take public input on the mayor's encampment-closure plan, immediately before the Pig's Eye Park sweep set for Wednesday.
- City officials now cite more than 850 calls for service to encampments since July of last year, including fires, sexual assaults, thefts, overdose deaths and other emergencies.
- The city estimates about 140 people live at Pig's Eye while a posted sign at the camp claims more than 250 residents, underscoring a dispute over the true population.
- The council agenda item has already drawn more than 200 written public comments, described as overwhelmingly opposed to the encampment-clearing plan.
- An interfaith group of religious leaders has sent city leaders a letter asking for at least a pause in the sweep to find more stable housing options; activists are planning a rally at the hearing to protest the clearings.
- Confirms Catholic Charities is adding 49 emergency beds, bringing its total to 281 beds.
- Catholic Charities is preparing to serve about 1,200 meals per day once the new beds are filled.
- Ramsey County waitlist for permanent supportive housing is over 2,000 people, far beyond the roughly 200 residents in the camps slated for clearance.
- Frontline outreach worker Marie Purcell of Veterans for Peace says only a few Pig’s Eye residents have actually secured housing so far and that service providers are "scrambling" and "stretched very thin."
- Catholic Charities’ chief program officer Keith Kozerski says the shelter runs full or near full every night even without camp closures, underscoring that the added beds do not close the gap.
- Confirms Pig’s Eye Park encampment will be the first site cleared on August 5, with other camps closing on a rolling basis afterward.
- Clarifies that St. Paul is investing $1 million specifically to help Ramsey County open 49 new emergency shelter beds at Catholic Charities plus additional beds and case management across the city.
- Details concrete barrier-reduction steps: extending shelter check-in times to 10 p.m., offering temporary storage for belongings, helping encampment residents replace ID documents, and assisting with warrant resolution.
- Provides updated utilization context: Ramsey County has more than 500 shelter beds and 300 people used night-by-night shelters in the last month, but the county does not publicly track real‑time bed availability.
- Quotes Stop the Sweeps coalition demands that the city end its policy of making all encampments illegal, only close camps with residents’ agreement, and stop removing storage and abandoned tents.
- Notes that planning involved ongoing collaboration among multiple St. Paul city departments, the city council, Ramsey County and service providers, and that HART, CARES and Familiar Faces teams will continue outreach after closures.
- St. Paul Police and Fire report more than 800 calls for service to encampments since July of last year.
- City officials say Pig's Eye Park will be the first encampment cleared on Aug. 5, with other camps closed on a rolling basis across St. Paul.
- The city and county are allocating more than $1 million to add new shelter beds in Ramsey County ahead of the clearings.
- Ramsey County data show 300 people used night-by-night shelters in the last month, while the city estimates about 200 people currently live in the camps slated for clearing.
- Rising Waters Mutual Aid and other outreach groups say they will shift to pop-up stations and driving patrols because scattered encampment residents will be harder to find and treat.
- Mayor’s office says city and county outreach teams will continue following up with individuals after the clearings to keep them tied to housing and behavioral-health resources.
- Volunteers estimate more than 100 people are currently staying at the Pig’s Eye Park encampment at any given time.
- Multiple long‑time volunteers (Marie Fitch, Kelly Rashaw, Fred Rashaw) describe the primary issues in the encampment as addiction and mental health and argue that simply pushing people out without addressing those needs will create bigger problems.
- Volunteers describe semi‑established living conditions at Pig’s Eye, including gardens, chickens, many pets and a sense of community, underscoring the disruption the August closure will cause.
- Assistant Mayor Cedrick Baker and Mayor Kaohly Her reiterate in new, longer quotes that they see the closures as necessary to protect both encampment residents and the broader community and emphasize the internal task force’s work since early 2026.