Judge’s Order on Homelessness Impacts Little Tokyo
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A homeless encampment on Toriumi Plaza in Little Tokyo.
Rafu Staff Report
Last month in the same week, three homeless men were found dead on the streets of Little Tokyo. There were no flowers, no hymns only sadness and a crushing feeling of helplessness.
One man, who died of a drug overdose, was living in a large encampment of about 25-30 tents on Toriumi Plaza above the Aiso Street Parking Garage on First Street. Until six months ago, that encampment didn’t exist.
Merchants and office workers, getting back to business in January and February after sheltering at home during the pandemic, were shocked to find a sea of tents and tarps blanketing a place named for Rev. Howard Toriumi, a man who made saving Little Tokyo his personal mission.
Drug Overdose Victim Found in Toriumi Plaza
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Emergency personnel tend to an overdose victim Monday at Toriumi Plaza. (MARIO GERSHOM REYES/Rafu Shimpo)
An unidentified man was found deceased on March 8 in Little Tokyo‘s Toriumi Plaza, where the Aiso Street Parking Garage is located. He was the apparent victim of a drug overdose.
Paramedics on the scene verified that the man, who it is believed to have been among those living in the encampment on the plaza, was deceased.
The body was discovered around 12 noon when Michael James, commander of the Little Tokyo Business Improvement District bicycle patrol, was flagged down by individuals living in an encampment on First and Judge John Aiso streets.