On Monday afternoon, Willard Rocky Johnson stood at the intersection of 27th and K streets holding a sign that read, “I am homeless could you PLEASE help for food.” Balancing his cardboard message and a big McDonald’s soda cup, he approached drivers sitting in their cars waiting for the light to turn green.

Most of Johnson’s prospective benefactors stared into space, trying to ignore this large figure approaching them waving his white, painted rectangle. When he finally walks away, the drivers were able to see the back of his sign: “HOVA Open House. 2-3 p.m.”

Johnson is one of many homeless people who recently moved closer to Foggy Bottom after being kicked out of their dwelling in Georgetown. The group used to live under a Whitehurst Freeway bridge next to the Hall on Virginia Avenue until the Metropolitan Police evicted them from their living space at the end of August.

Sgt. John Paul Griffin of MPD’s Second District said in a phone interview Wednesday that the homeless under Whitehurst posed a threat to the area by tampering with maintenance doors on the bridge.

“They force open these doors, they break the locks, they create permanent abodes underneath these bridges and they create a hazard,” he said. Griffin added that there are more homeless people in the Foggy Bottom area due to the sweep underneath the Whitehurst bridge.

Johnson said that a police officer visited his spot under the bridge recently and told him and his friends they had to leave because people had complained about a mess that was accumulating under the freeway.

“Someone was wrecking shit over there,” said Johnson, pointing to garbage bags and carts lying under the bridge. “But it wasn’t us . We struggle out here, and we wasn’t doing nothing wrong.”

Some GW students said they have noticed more homeless people near Foggy Bottom.

“I have a friend who lives near 25th between K and L streets, and a couple of homeless people who lived under Whitehurst broke into the garage in her building,” senior Jud Crane said. “It wasn’t violent, they were just looking for a place to live.”

“There are definitely more homeless people in certain places,” said Steph Monte, a junior, “Mostly in Washington Circle, but not really in the center of campus.”

Rising homeless displacement has also become more noticeable in other parts of the District.

On Monday night, several dozen homeless gathered at a park on 18th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to wait for a food truck.

Most waited while holding all their belongings in large luggage bags, which they sifted through as they waited for the food to arrive.

“You can’t take your stuff with you to a shelter or a job,” said Andrew Davis, who sat next to a duffel bag. “And being moved around only makes things a lot harder.”

Davis, who is homeless, passes out flyers for a club promotion company and works for a homeless advocacy group. He used to sleep in McPherson Square, but was recently forced by police to move somewhere else.

He attributes the recent sweep of homeless across the city to increasing residential development. “When they come to look at these new properties, they don’t want to see a lot of homeless people around.”

Sgt. Griffin said the problem is often limitless.

“It’s just like any other homeless issue. It’s going to be ongoing,” Griffin said. “Unless there’s a miracle that comes across the city and homelessness is abated … we will identify another homeless problem.”

-Kaitlyn Jahrling contributed to this report.