Glenn Hilke being arrested outside Kamloops City Hall on Dec. 19, 2025. (Image Credit: Michael Reeve/CFJC Today)

By Victor Kaisar

Glenn Hilke

Kamloops homeless advocate arrested outside City Hall while calling for action on new day space

Dec 19, 2025 | 2:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — The former operator of The Loop drop-in centre and the Kamloops Community Meal Train was arrested for obstruction Friday (Dec. 19).

Glenn Hilke was taken into custody by Kamloops RCMP outside City Hall during a protest pop-up event organized by a group called NOMADS (Networking Outreach Meals Advocacy Development Supports). At Friday’s event, volunteers at NOMADS were handing out hot meals and warm clothing to people in need.

Video of the arrest taken by CFJC Today showed Hilke being asked by Kamloops RCMP officers to leave the greenspace outside City Hall just after 12:00 noon as he did not have a permit to operate Friday’s drop-in event.

Hilke refused and told officers that he planned to stay for another hour, at which point he was cuffed and put in the back of an RCMP cruiser.

“Depending on the type of event and business, the City might require a business license and/or a special and one-time Events Organizer license, involving specific requirements for road usage, insurance, traffic plans, and Fire/Safety plans, depending on your event’s scale and activities,” Mo Perri, the city’s Community Services Supervisor, told CFJC by email.

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“NOMAD acts as a service provider offering services to the community without  a valid license approved by the City therefore these type of events would not be permitted.”

CFJC has also reached out to Kamloops RCMP for comment on Hilke’s arrest and is awaiting a response.

NOMADS began operating temporary outdoor drop-in spaces on the weekends in mid-November. A pop-up version of The Loop, it offered vulnerable people downtown and on the North Shore hot food and drinks as well as warm clothes, supplies and access to other services.

According to Hilke, Friday’s pop-up event marked 500 days without a drop-in centre in Kamloops, following the closure of the Loop and the Mustard Seed’s dayroom.