Philly residents charge that police hid homeless people from the pope

A Philadelphia chef named Marc Vetri struck a chord in his city with a viral Facebook critique of the Philadelphia Police Department's security measures for Pope Francis' visit. "We're clearly all thrilled that Pope Francis is here," Vetri begins, but he soon transitions to explaining how city leaders decided to "roll [locals] up in the carpet to place in storage until Monday."

Blocked off roads made it difficult for businesses to open — many reported significant losses over the weekend — and for people to get to their homes, leading to empty streets Vetri argued didn't reflect Philly's real character. He also wrote that police "didn't need to sweep the homeless people off the streets," hiding them out of sight during the papal visit.

Vetri's concerns were echoed by other Philly residents in response to the police department's security plans for the pope's arrival.

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