Radio Station Wonders if Homeless People Should Be Stuck on an Island, Faces Internet Ire

A radio station in Washington state, KIRO 97.3 FM, tweeted out a link to an article yesterday. The article broke down a debate between two KIRO hosts, John Curley and Tom Tangney, who have differing opinions on whether or not the homeless population of Seattle should be placed on an island away from the general population. The tweet tried to reignite the debate and let followers discuss the issue, but the station ended up getting piled on.

Is an island set aside for the homeless approach inhumane, or a strict, yet reasonable remedy?https://t.co/fHzx5PIuy3

— KIRO Radio 97.3 FM (@KIRORadio) August 29, 2016

@KIRORadio I wish the FCC could yank your broadcast license.

— MK (@mk_rodgers) August 29, 2016

@KIRORadio @emanreports this is disgusting. Homeless people are humans beings, not trash that can be discarded onto a deserted island.

— Joe Marshall (@marshall5912) August 29, 2016

So, uh, yeah, that would be “inhumane” yes

— Dan Olson (@FoldableHuman) August 29, 2016

@MuffMacGuff Is it more expensive to use homes and food that exist for homeless people or move all of them to an island. Hmmmmmmmmm.

— Beardfreak (@Beardfreak) August 29, 2016

☑ “rergoup” on a weird island
☑ you can leave at any time!
☑ also existing while homeless will be a crime in the entire city, incidentally

— Alex P (@SaddestRobots) August 29, 2016

@FoldableHuman Putting all the homeless on an island: Inhuman or HOLY SHIT WHO CAME UP WITH THIS DOES REAL LIFE HAVE COMICBOOK VILLAINS NOW?

— Amy Godliman (@acgodliman) August 29, 2016

Note to self: Remove “KIRO Radio” from my resume. https://t.co/NwyRU1xksm

— (((Goldy))) (@GoldyHA) August 29, 2016

Seattle-based writers Lindy West, Ijeoma Oluo, and Brett Hamil joined in:

fuck this trash radio station pic.twitter.com/A0ITAHjJsC

— Lindy West (@thelindywest) August 29, 2016

i had already decided never to do another interview with @KIRORadio because of their all lives matter bullshit but now i am double-decided

— Lindy West (@thelindywest) August 29, 2016

Oh….this garbage. @KIRORadio stays the racist, classist underbelly of Seattle. https://t.co/WLTJ1QHicx

— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) August 29, 2016

The soul of Seattle has officially reached a low water mark https://t.co/YGWDvzAPnQ

— Brett Hamil (@BrettHamil) August 29, 2016

Note: these stories, 2 of which directly resulted in death threats, were reported by KIRO listeners or hosts w/out interviewing the subject

— Brett Hamil (@BrettHamil) August 29, 2016

Their followers joined in, too:

@thelindywest I’ve worked in homelessness and affordable housing for 7 years (today) and I can’t overstate how idiotic and inhumane this is.

— Sam Makoski (@SamanthaMakoski) August 29, 2016

@thelindywest I remember when “some things you don’t do because they’re morally repugnant” was a classic conservative talking point. . .

— Toby Fee (@tobyfee) August 29, 2016

@thelindywest I mean-has it EVER gone wrong putting a group of people in a ghetto from which they can’t escape? pic.twitter.com/AjswytMP70

— Allison Sanchez (@DemandHats4Cats) August 29, 2016

@thelindywest “Inhumane vs. Strict.” Sounds like they’re talking about training dogs, not providing for our most marginalized neighbors

— Sarah Ervin (@ervinsarrr) August 29, 2016

@thelindywest this honestly seems taken from an early twentieth century eugenics programme. Disgusting.

— rosie knight (@RosieMarx) August 29, 2016

@bretthamil I guess when the only tool in your belt is “emulate the british empire circa 1800” everything looks like island penal colonies?

— Alias ‘Hawaii’ (@bwreilly) August 29, 2016

.@BrettHamil @seattlish Wow, I just…
“Hey, what if we put our undesirables in one concentrated location. Like an island, or a camp!” ?

— Jonathan Borzilleri (@duaiwe) August 29, 2016

…I mean, are they going to put houses on the island, or just dump homeless people there with no way off? https://t.co/zILv9toEm7

— L. Nicol Cabe (@nicolthegreat) August 29, 2016

Donald Trump had an interview on the station this afternoon, so they might be too busy to notice how many people are mad at them, but these responses answer their original question, at any rate.

[image via screengrab]

Lindsey: Twitter. Facebook.

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