Weeks removed from Governor Gavin Newsom’s directive to remove unauthorized homeless encampments from the streets of California, one city is set to begin a teardown of tents this week.

Speaking to KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos, Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city didn’t want to rush the actions, but now’s the time to act.

“We fully understand how sensitive this is for our residents and also the urgency of some of the chronic encampments, so we took our time,” Richardson said.

Long Beach has waited a little less than a month to dismantle encampments following the July 25 executive order from Newsom that encourages local governments to address the homelessness problem, giving them guidelines on processes that include clearing encampments and aiding the unhoused population with alternative options.

In the weeks since, Newsom himself has expressed deep frustration at the lack of action in removing encampments from some local governments, even after his executive order. The Democratic Governor has threatened to withhold funds from cities that fails to remove encampments.

“We need local government to step up. This is a crisis,” Newsom told reporters on Aug. 8. “The state’s unprecedented billions of dollars of support? I’m not interested in providing that support and not seeing the results. I’m a taxpayer, not just the governor. It’s not complicated. We’ll send that money to counties that are producing results.”

Newsom’s push against homeless encampments comes after a recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed governments to criminalize “public camping,” or sleeping on streets and sidewalks.

In a memo released last week, Long Beach officials detailed their intention to comply with the order, saying that unhoused people may be cited or arrested for refusing to leave encampments.

Critics of the recent push against encampments have raised ethics concerns regarding the treatment of California’s unhoused population, saying the criminalization of homelessness could create more problems than it solves.

“If the only crime you are arresting or citing someone for is just existing in public space, that’s criminalization [of homelessness],” said John Ralphing of Human Rights Watch.

Long Beach officials say that people experiencing homelessness won’t be arrested or cited outright without committing any other crimes in the process, but instead will be offered outreach programs first. The city does, however, intend to tear down tents in public spaces.

Military horses run loose in London

Multiple horses belonging to the Household Cavalry, part of the British Army, ran loose through the streets of London, injuring at least one person. (Reuters)

A Texas teenager was critically injured and later died after he was dragged by a horse while tending to a sick calf in a freak accident Monday.  

“Somehow, the man’s leg got tangled, and the horse [dragged] him quite a distance in an open field,” the Lott Volunteer Fire Department told KWTX-TV. 

The Falls County Sheriff’s Department confirmed 18-year-old Ace Patton Ashford’s death, writing on Facebook, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Ace Ashford. Our condolences go out to his family.”

“I love you forever ace Patton,” his girlfriend, Sydney Boatright, wrote on her Facebook along with a photo of the two of them. Ashford’s mother, Jamie Ashford, wrote on her Facebook, “I miss you so much Ace! I love you more!”

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MAN AND HIS DOG ELECTROCUATED IN FREAK ACCIDENT DURING THUNDERSTORM

Texas teenager Ace Patton Ashford was critically injured and later died after he was dragged by a horse while tending to a sick calf in a freak accident Monday.   (Richard Hamilton Smith/Design Pics Editorial/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Ashford had just graduated from Rosebud-Lott High School in the spring and was preparing to attend Hill College on a rodeo scholarship. 

“Ace loved the cowboy way of life and was the true definition of a hard-working country boy,” his obituary said. “Ace loved to rodeo and was known as the ‘Header’ in Team Roping. Ace would dedicate innumerable hours to roping in order to reach his full potential.”

Ashford suffered head injuries and was airlifted to a hospital, where he died, according to KWTX. 

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“Ace had a heart of gold and was loved by everyone he knew. Ace never met a stranger, and he had an old soul,” the obituary added. “He would stop at nothing to lend a helping hand to anyone in need.”

SHOCKING VIDEO CAPTURES MOMENT BULL LEAPS OVER FENCE AT RODEO, INJURING 4 SPECTATORS

Ashford had just graduated from high school in the spring and was preparing to attend Hill College on a rodeo scholarship.  (Jamie McLaughlin Ashford/Facebook)

Fellow rodeo header Cody Snow called Ashford “about as pure as they get,” according to the Team Roping Journal.

The father of his high school rodeo partner told the Journal, “From the time I spent with him, he didn’t talk a lot, and he didn’t bother nobody. He’d have rather been out there doctoring yearlings than going to a roping sometimes. He was a good kid. It’s so hard to put into words how he was. At the high school rodeos, he’d be the kid who pushed everybody’s steers.”

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Marcus Becerra, who is a rodeo flagger, told the Journal Ashford was “who you want your son to grow up to be. That’s why it hurt quite a bit. Everybody knows how good a kid he was, how cordial he was, how respectful he was. He was good with horses, he had manners and he was a real great kid.

“Flagging, you meet these kids when they’re young, and you get to know them. You see from the time they’re little, and you get to watch them win and you pull for them.”

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Detectives are investigating after a 19-year-old who was assaulted in Koreatown died from a head injury.

The victim was identified as Joon Hee Han, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Family members said Han was attacked in late July in the 700 block of South Harvard Boulevard. He fell down and injured his head during the violent altercation.

He remained hospitalized in a coma and earlier this week, police announced Han had died from his injuries.

A motive remains unclear as investigators work to piece together the events leading up to the assault.

“West Bureau Homicide detectives are actively pursuing additional evidence, witness statements, and other information pertaining to the incident that might help us to determine what occurred,” authorities said.

No suspect description was released as the case remains under investigation.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide at 213-382-9470.