sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Kodiak was biking down the streets of Southeast sa国际传媒官网网页入口 near the Ramada hotel when he noticed a truck shift lanes.

At first, he thought nothing of the vehicle as it veered from the far right lane of the road.

鈥淭he next thing I knew, the truck was in the center lane and it just swerved and came straight toward me,鈥� Kodiak said.

Kodiak went to the hospital that night, May 6, with cuts and bruises from the crash scattered across his arms. He was released May 7, the same day he spoke to the Journal.

Kodiak, 51, is one of thousands of people living on the streets of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 who say their lives are put in jeopardy due to their housing status.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口's 2025 annual Point-In-Time count showed that of the 1,367 unsheltered people surveyed, 45% said that a person had threatened their safety because they were unhoused.

Such assaults have happened across the country, according to a 2024 National Coalition for the Homeless report titled 鈥�.鈥�

From 2020 to 2022, the coalition documented 97 acts of violence toward people experiencing homelessness, with 48% resulting in fatalities, the report states.

In a 23-year period, the group documented nearly 2,000 incidents of violence against homeless people. At least 588 unhoused people died during that timeframe. The life expectancy for someone homeless is approximately 20 to 30 years less than the general population, the coalition said.

鈥淭hese crimes appear to have been motivated by a perpetrator's bias against people experiencing homelessness and to have been facilitated by a perpetrator鈥檚 ability to target homeless people with relative ease,鈥� the organization said.

William Bowen, program manager for the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said it is more likely for homeless people to suffer from assaults because they are isolated due to location or social status.

鈥淧eople experiencing homelessness are more likely to be the victims of people committing random acts of violence because they do not have the social support structure that will lead to people taking their assault as seriously as others,鈥� Bowen said.

In sa国际传媒官网网页入口, a homeless man named Juan Lopez was allegedly shot and killed by 44-year-old Arturo Nanez in Old Town. Nanez was arrested in late April and later told police he shot Lopez because he was homeless.

A grand jury indicted Nanez on May 11.

鈥淒efendant expressed animosity toward the unhoused and shot at Lopez and the juveniles around him because he believed they were all unhoused,鈥� states a pretrial detention motion filed in Metropolitan Court.

But the violence isn鈥檛 just physical. In September 2025, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said on air that homeless people who did not accept social services should receive 鈥渋nvoluntary lethal injection鈥� before adding that someone should 鈥渏ust kill 鈥榚m.鈥�

Kilmeade later issued a public apology for his 鈥渆xtremely callous remark鈥� and said that homeless people deserve empathy and compassion.

The Journal spoke with homeless people in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to hear their experiences of being assaulted. 

Kodiak, who chose not to give his last name, said it鈥檚 a common occurrence that happens to the unhoused. Typically, it鈥檚 not a question of if, but when a person will be harmed because they are homeless.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the first time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been shot at by residents. A business owner beat me, my ex-wife and my dog with a baseball bat a few years ago.鈥�

Marcos Romero, 52, said that he and a group of unhoused people were nearly run over by a man in early March while they were sitting on a sidewalk.

"We were all sitting down eating food and we heard a horn blaring and then we heard squealing tires,鈥� Romero said. 鈥淲e look over and a gentleman was jumping the curb and chasing a couple of people. He was trying to run over them and their tents and ramming people鈥檚 carts into them.鈥�

Romero said that, though it鈥檚 the only time he has outright seen violence against homeless people, he鈥檚 heard many similar stories from other unhoused people.

It鈥檚 not drivers trying to run a person over, he said. People have thrown full soda cans, empty food containers and eggs at people living on the streets. 

鈥淎nybody out there can just have a bad day and take it out on us,鈥� Romero said. 鈥淭ake into consideration that we鈥檙e people just trying to get by. We鈥檙e not hurting anyone.鈥�

Mama Rose, a 58-year-old matriarch for many in the unhoused community, said she and others have grown used to the near-constant abuse they face.

In the five years she has lived on the streets, Mama Rose said she has seen people throw rocks at the unhoused, teens who would threaten to run over the homeless and business owners who have dumped water on the unhoused and their belongings.

鈥淛ust two nights ago, we had this idiot in a speed car coming through acting reckless,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome of the guys got some big rocks and threw them out in the road at us. He was threatening to kill us.鈥�

Mama Rose said that it鈥檚 a common occurrence, especially for those living near the bridge below Interstate 40 near Sixth Street. While it鈥檚 disheartening, she鈥檚 grown used to it, she said.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 say much because we鈥檙e accustomed to being used as the welcome mat for everybody to wipe their shoes,鈥� she said.

The common thread between the three was their wish that people would treat them with kindness and dignity. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e not bad people,鈥� Mama Rose said. 鈥淲e just want to live like everybody else. We just want to be treated like everybody else. A fair handshake would be nice to us.鈥�

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.