Just In: Fans Defend Taylor Swift After Police Break Up Homeless Encampment Ahead of New Orleans Eras Tour Shows…. See More

Ahead of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour stop in New Orleans, La., Governor Jeff Landry’s office relocated a large encampment of unhoused residents—and fans are now defending the pop star from critics blaming her for the move.

Communications director Kate Kelly said the effort will allow the city to “put its best foot forward when on the world stage.”

Kelly described the decision as a way to address both homelessness and safety issues, according to a new report from the Associated Press. He pointed not only to the Eras Tour but the upcoming Super Bowl, both of which will be held at Caesars Superdome,

Only the most dangerous blocks—where homeless regularly walk across busy streets—are being shut down,” he explained, noting approximately 75 people, who lived in tents underneath an overpass, were relocated by about two blocks.

Taylor Swift hates homeless people! There is no other possible explanation,” someone else claimed. “If she is fine with people living in addiction and squalor when she is not touring, then leave them alone when you are.”

“Tolerant left,” another said simply, suggesting an underhanded political motivation for the move. Landry, however, is a member of the Republican party.

The orders to move the homeless encampment a couple blocks from where it is was issued by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry,” one person pointed out in response to the backlash. “Taylor Swift is not responsible for his decision.”

@taylorswift13 Police clear homeless camp ahead of Taylor Swift show in New Orleans. I’m starting to see a pattern of cities attacking the homeless. A pattern of Twitter blaming you. And a pattern of cities using you as an attack tactic against undesirables,” another person pointed out, calling back to similar instances, such as Swift’s shows in Edinburgh, Scotland, where

Advocacy groups also condemned the way Landry’s office handled the situation, with Martha Kegel, executive director of nonprofit organization Unity of Greater New Orleans, calling it a “needless and harmful endeavor,” according to the AP.

Many of the camp’s residents suffer from mental health issues and don’t trust authority figures. As a result, some of them left when the move was initiated, potentially reversing all of the work Kegel and her colleagues have done to help work with them on plans for permanent housing.

Had her agency been notified ahead of time, she said, “We could have accomplished what the governor wanted in a humane and rational way and not just push people a couple of blocks away or scatter them.”