MANCHESTER, N.H. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Some people are calling it "Tent City." The state of New Hampshire is threatening to take action against the homeless encampment outside of the courthouse in Manchester.
At the beginning of the year, Sean Nichol's has plenty of work. "Then the coronavirus hit, and people didn't want me in the house to do tile work," Nichols said.
Now, for a few months Nichols has been living in a tent on the lawn outside of the Hillsborough County Courthouse. Nichols and roughly 50 others have built an encampment with 20 tents that looks like a mini tent city.
Nichols calls the group his family. "And you know what it's more of a family than I've had for a long time," Nichols said.
The group describes their setup as a protest and they're demanding better assistance for the homeless in Manchester, including financial assistance, job programs and housing.
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The city has offered up a few beds in shelters, but demonstrators say they would rather fight for better and more long-term housing options.
Now, the state's attorney general is stepping in and said that the property will be cleared out but they did not give a timeline.
Nichols says volunteers on-site have been providing them food and drinks and vowed to defend the demonstrator's right to protest.
"We have volunteers here that are going to protect us, they're going to put arms together and they're not going to let us be taken out like that," said Nichols.
WBZ NewsRadio's Matt Shearer (@MattWBZ) reports
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(Photo: Matt Shearer/WBZ Newsradio)