A man who has been protesting outside Anchorage City hall for more than a month over the city's homeless policies was arrested for being an out of compliance sex offender.
Wednesday afternoon the Anchorage Police Department Community Action Policing team arrested John Martin III downtown. He is a level one sex offender convicted in 1997 for sexual abuse of a minor. Martin is on the state sex offender registry listed as "homeless" and "generally stays" in the Campbell Creek area. He has been protesting on 6th Avenue downtown for more than a month.
Anchorage Police charged Martin with failure to register his change of location on the sex offender registry. Charging documents were not immediately available for this latest offense, but Martin is scheduled to appear in court next month for a previous charge of failing to register his address.
Wednesday night officials at the Anchorage Jail say Martin posted bail and later he was again seen across the street from City Hall.
Martin had been protesting, saying he's upset that the city takes the homeless' possessions when it busts homeless campsites.
"He's taking everyone's gear from them," Martin said. "And winter comes quick here in Alaska and people need their gear to survive."
His protest has caught the attention of the mayor, and also brought attention to a loophole in current city laws that does not prohibit camping on city sidewalks.
Mayor Dan Sullivan is bringing an ordinance in front of the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday that would ban sitting or laying on a sidewalk in the downtown area - between 1st and 9th Avenues and Gambell and L Streets. If passed, the law would go into effect immediately, which irked Martin.
"If he can pass a law that quick then let's do something for the homeless," Martin said. "Let's come up with someplace where people can pitch their tents. If we can act that fast let's do something before winter comes."
"Quite frankly," Sullivan said. "This is a public safety issue and like with all public safety issues, if we can pass an ordinance that leads to a safer community we're interested in doing it."
Exemptions to the law, if passed, include "people having a medical emergency; those who use a wheelchair or other assistive devices to move around; people participating in a permitted demonstration, parade or rally; people patronizing a permitted commercial establishment; and people sitting on permitted chairs or benches provided for public use."
Martin, along with Anchorage Assembly Member Paul Honeman says the law sounds like it is specifically targeted at Martin. Honeman says other laws already on the books should cover blocking the sidewalk and this new law is most likely unnecessary. He says he'll have plenty of questions for the mayor at Tuesday's Assembly meeting, but right now would not support the new law.
Sullivan said before Martin's arrest he had not talked to Martin, and had no plans to.
"I really try to limit my discussions with first degree sex offenders," Sullivan said. "I really don't know what the discussion would be ... I just don't look at him as a sympathetic character. I think he's probably a dangerous character."
The ordinance goes before the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday, but will be addressed by Assembly members at work sessions later this week.
Contact Todd Walker at twalker@ktuu.com
