Citizens need to have SAFE homeless shelters that includes community involvement. There needs to be employment in all walks of life not just the 'jobs' that Wall Street defines as employment. Diversity in employment is best addressed by local economies.
By
on April 30, 2014 at 4:48 PM
updated April 30, 2014 at 5:25 PM
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Anthony Weaver (click here) says he stayed Tuesday night in an abandoned house in western Birmingham, the same place where he has sheltered much of the past year.
When he first started staying there, Weaver said, the electrical service was still connected. Now the only utility is running water, he said.
Being homeless and out of work most of the past decade - despite holding two college degrees - made him vulnerable to being coerced by a former Birmingham police officer into setting fire to seven to nine homes in the western part of the city in 2012, Weaver said.
He said he was afraid. "I'm not Natalee Holloway," he said, making a reference to the Mountain Brook teen whose 2005 disappearance still garners headlines. "If I came up missing, who gives a damn?"
A judge today sentenced Weaver to five-years probation for his guilty plea to second-degree arson and two other charges.
Former Birmingham police officer Jason Arnold is serving a six-month sentence in the case. Former Birmingham police officer Curtis Thornton is serving a 100-year sentence for his conviction for arson in Birmingham and Warrior fires in 2012....
...Claims of coercion were first made in a lawsuit Weaver filed in June of last year against Arnold, Thornton and other police officers. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre dismissed the suit in January. The judge stated that Weaver had failed to respond to an order for him to explain why the case should not be dismissed after he had pleaded guilty to the arson charge....
By
on April 30, 2014 at 4:48 PM
updated April 30, 2014 at 5:25 PM
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Anthony Weaver (click here) says he stayed Tuesday night in an abandoned house in western Birmingham, the same place where he has sheltered much of the past year.
When he first started staying there, Weaver said, the electrical service was still connected. Now the only utility is running water, he said.
Being homeless and out of work most of the past decade - despite holding two college degrees - made him vulnerable to being coerced by a former Birmingham police officer into setting fire to seven to nine homes in the western part of the city in 2012, Weaver said.
He said he was afraid. "I'm not Natalee Holloway," he said, making a reference to the Mountain Brook teen whose 2005 disappearance still garners headlines. "If I came up missing, who gives a damn?"
A judge today sentenced Weaver to five-years probation for his guilty plea to second-degree arson and two other charges.
Former Birmingham police officer Jason Arnold is serving a six-month sentence in the case. Former Birmingham police officer Curtis Thornton is serving a 100-year sentence for his conviction for arson in Birmingham and Warrior fires in 2012....
...Claims of coercion were first made in a lawsuit Weaver filed in June of last year against Arnold, Thornton and other police officers. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre dismissed the suit in January. The judge stated that Weaver had failed to respond to an order for him to explain why the case should not be dismissed after he had pleaded guilty to the arson charge....
