The Travis County Republican Party issued a press release last week titled “Homeless Given More Rights Than Property Owners Under New Camping Policy.” In it, the organization said that people experiencing homelessness, or living on the street, can camp on private property, business frontage and public sidewalks.
Is that a fact? Madlin Mekelburg of the PolitiFact Texas fact-checking team based at the Austin American-Statesman has the answer.
The release was published after the Austin Police Association wrote a Facebook post interpreting the city’s decision to do away with some laws related to homelessness in June.
“Their characterization of the ordinance is actually accurate but it seems to have gotten lost in translation a little bit by the time the Travis County Republican Party put it in their press release,” Mekelburg says.
Hear how the Travis County Republican Party’s claim scored in the player above.
Written by Chloe Bennett.
