No-camping law in Fresno faces a big test as homeless man, 77, fights arrest with trial
A man who has been living on the streets of Fresno for about three years will likely be the first person prosecuted under the city’s 6-month-old anti-camping law — and that’s exactly what he wants.
Wickey Two Hands, 77, was arrested just before 8:30 a.m. Oct. 14 near the corner of Shields and Pleasant avenues on suspicion of violating Fresno’s new law banning sitting, lying and camping in public places, according to police arrest logs.
Two Hands said being homeless is a “way of life” for him as he sat on a rainy Wednesday a tenth of a mile away from where he was arrested, and he’s prepared to go before a jury to fight the charge.
“It dampens your spirit,” he said about the new law. “I may get frustrated about it sometimes, because you know you have to live and like to have the freedom to live anywhere you want to live.”
Two Hands was one of at least 224 people arrested under the new ordinance in its first three months after its adoption by the Fresno City Council in September. The new law gives officers the authority to arrest people living on the street if they reject offers of treatment or shelter.
Fresno is among the California cities taking a tougher stance on homeless camping after the Grants Pass v. Johnson ruling in June overturned protections against arrest for those who lived on the street.
Two Hands said police had already seized many of his belongings during an encounter about a month before his October arrest in which he lost what possessions he had since gained.
He laid on the ground Wednesday as it rained, covering himself with a plastic shower curtain. His experience in a shelter was worse, and he said he preferred living outside.
“It’s my life,” he said. “I’m all right with it.”
Some business owners have expressed the need to force homeless people out of encampments and away from businesses, and city leaders have said the law is “tough love” needed to fight a stubborn problem.
Critics of the new ordinance say it criminalizes people who are already in a difficult situation and don’t have other options.
There are more than 1,800 people in Fresno living unsheltered on the street, according to the most recent tally from the Fresno-Madera Continuum of Care. There are fewer than 1,000 year-round emergency shelter beds in Fresno, and they are almost always full, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.
Kevin Little, the attorney for Two Hands, said Fresno’s new law is poorly designed.
“We’re eager to get this in front of a jury,” Little said. “We think it’s an invalid law and it’s ill-conceived, and we think we can demonstrate that.”
If found guilty of the misdemeanor crime, Two Hands faces a $1,000 fine or up to one year in jail.
Little said his client would be the first person arrested under the anti-camping law to face trial, assuming the case goes forward in April. An earlier date set for a jury trial in February was postponed.
The city of Fresno offered Two Hands a “unique diversion package” for seniors, Little said. The city has no specific program related to unhoused seniors, he noted, saying the city came up with the plan to “buy off” Two Hands and avoid going to court.
“If they can do it for him, why can’t they do it for anyone else?” he said.
The anti-camping law is handled differently than many misdemeanor crimes. The Fresno City Attorney’s Office prosecutes such arrests, and not the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.
City Attorney Andrew Janz said he hoped Two Hands and his lawyer would accept a non-trial resolution, adding the anti-camping ordinance is consistent with the legal precedence in the Grants Pass decision because it targets behavior and not housing status.
“The city firmly believes this defendant, given his age and condition, should receive a diversion program, treatment and permanent housing, and not to be put back out on the streets without resources and a path for success,” Janz said in a statement.
A similar case is working its way through the San Francisco Superior Court system, where a 52-year-old woman may soon face trial, according to CalMatters.
Two Hands said he lived in Bakersfield until moving to Fresno in 1990, and had become homeless after a motel he stayed in on Parkway Drive was emptied out to be refurbished for permanent housing.
The recycling and maintenance work he does is not enough to pay rent. He said he didn’t have any family left, and hoped he would be left alone by law enforcement.
“To resume living as I normally do,” he said. “This is my way of life.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
