'A present from the homeless': Denver business owner dumps human poop that he was forced to clean up on city hall steps

Denver businessman Jon Caldara is tired of homeless people defecating outside his business.

On Monday, Caldara — CEO of Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank based in the city — took human feces that he cleaned up outside his business to city hall and sent a stern message to Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D).

With news camera rolling, Caldera dumped the poop on the steps of the government building.

"Here is — oh my God — human feces that I've cleaned up," Caldara told KCNC-TV while holding a box containing the excrement. "This is a present from the homeless to the people who have kept this homeless problem going.

"We have to clean up vomit and urine and syringes and used condoms and feces. We didn't cause the homeless problem in Denver, but we have clean up after it," he explained. "This is a not an affordable housing crisis. This is a drug crisis, this is a mental health crisis, and this is a crisis of law. That these people who need help will never get help if they are not brought to jail where they are forced to get some help."

Caldara said that surveillance cameras monitoring his business capture homeless people using his property as a public restroom multiple times per week.

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When Johnston entered office in July, he immediately declared a state of emergency over the homelessness problem, which has grown to more than 9,000 people. Johnston has pledged to find housing for 1,000 of those people by the end of the year.

Caldara told KDVR-TV that he has talked to the mayor, but said he still wants the city to do more.

"Yes, I've talked to the mayor. He's a great guy; I wish him all the best," Caldara said. "And I understand that he is trying a new technique of housing first, but I also want him to enforce the laws."

Johnston's office told KDVR in response to Caldara's poop-dumping scene that city officials are placing restrooms and trash cans near homeless camps to tamp down on the problem that Caldara highlighted.

In the meantime, Caldara offered some advice for other Denver business owners tired of cleaning up after homeless people.

"Next time you clean it up, drop it off here. Drop it off at city hall as an act civil disobedience to ask them, to demand of them to address the problem," he said.

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