Brooks Roberts-Shot by Federal Agents in the Back

For being homeless.

Brooks Roberts, his mom, Judy, and his brother, Timber, are an Idaho family who need community support right now. Brooks was shot repeatedly, including in the back, because he was homeless. Evicted after job loss at the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020, they found themselves struggling to survive in the only shelter they had left—their vehicles.

But the federal government came after them with overwhelming brutality, even though it knew the family was homeless and had been working with a case worker to find housing. The feds secured arrest warrants against the family. Even though the warrants were for low-level misdemeanors, they sent in over a dozen armed officers, from multiple agencies, to trick the family with a ruse.

Exploiting the family’s generosity, two undercover cops in an unmarked truck knocked on the family’s trailer door to ask for a jump start. Soon after Timber came out to help them, the plainclothes officers took him to the ground. Brooks, unable to walk after he was injured at his job at Walmart the year before, wheeled out in his wheelchair when he heard his brother crying out for help.

Brooks emerged to see what seemed to be his brother being carjacked or kidnapped. What he didn’t know, tragically, was that he was surrounded by police. As soon as they saw the revolver Brooks brought out with him, they opened fire. They shot Brooks repeatedly, pumping multiple rounds into his body—even after he dropped his gun and lay defenseless and nearly naked in the mud. They shot him in the back while he lay on the ground.

By some miracle, Brooks survived. He is still recovering in an Idaho rehabilitation facility. He and his family still have no place to go. The federal government is still prosecuting them for the crimes of experiencing homelessness and poverty in the land of the free (specifically, misdemeanors like “camping on forest service land for a period longer than allowed”).

All donations will directly assist the family. They will be using money raised to rent a home where Brooks can rest and recuperate, a vehicle to help the family find work, and to get their family heirlooms and belongings back from the government, which seized it all after gunning Brooks down.

The goal has been set at $100k to ensure the family can 1) move out of Idaho, 2) locate stable housing, and 3) be able to live in said housing without having to worry or carry fear like this again for a while.

Want to get a receipt for your contribution for tax deduction?

Please donate using this link [https://wraphome.org/hobos/donate/wrap-gifts/] and note that the donation is for “Roberts Family.” If you have questions about ensuring your donation is tax-deductible, please email [email redacted].

Read more about the Roberts and what the government did to them:

*links to press coverage coming soon*