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Mimi Launder
Jun 13, 2018
It's hard enough being homeless without a self-entitled jogger ransacking your possessions and throwing them in a lake.
This actually happened. And there's viral footage from Oakland, California, to prove it - in case you thought no one in apparent possession of a heart could be that cruelly entitled.
In the video, the jogger is heard saying:
I’m picking up trash, what do you want me to do? Look at this.
He adds:
It’s disgusting.
JJ Harris, the filmmaker and photographer who captured the footage and shared it on social media, can be heard pleading with the man to stop but to no avail. He told The Guardian:
I was just completely taken aback...Â
That he would do this to another human being, the lack of compassion is astonishing.
The footage sparked outrage and upset on social media. But Kenzie Mouton is here to restore your faith in humanity.
With help from friend Ashley Yates and the Oakland Community, he set up a GoFundMe page for Drew. On the page, he wrote:Â
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.
It's not ok to destroy someone's things just because they are homeless.
Help us show Drew that his community is here for him and that we care.
The crowdfunder raised more than £7,000 in just two days.
The money will go towards replacing everything that was thrown in the lake, including clothing, shoes, food and bedding. Having met his goal, Mouton will also buy him a tent.
Mouton, and Lake Merrit, were recently caught up in another viral video: he was one of the black men a white woman infamously called the police on, just for holding a BBQ near a lake.Â
The Oakland community responded in similarly brilliant fashion by throwing a huge party and grill in the same spot.Â
You can donate and help Drew here.
More: The disturbing anti-homeless architecture you see every day but don't notice