In Tampa, Food Not Bombs activists arrested for feeding the homeless...again

[babylonsister]

http://www.cltampa.com/news-views/local-news/article/20848403/tampa-activists-arrested-for-feeding-the-homeless

In Tampa, Food Not Bombs activists arrested for feeding the homeless—again
Kate Bradshaw
Jan 7, 2017 10 PM

Temperatures were dipping into unfriendly territory Saturday afternoon as sports fans flocked to the events at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.

At nearby Lykes Gaslight Park, members of Tampa's homeless community were gathered for hot coffee and bagels, courtesy of the group Food Not Bombs.

snip//

When police arrived on the scene, they gave the activists three minutes to stop feeding those in need.

Then, they moved in, pulling the volunteers away as they continued to serve.

"Please help yourselves," one could be heard saying to those still gathered as he was dragged off.

A man who reached for a last-minute bagel was also arrested.

(Watch a video of the arrests, courtesy of Erin Sauer, at link).

In an email sent to press Saturday night, the group said it "has no plans to stop sharing food with the homeless and hungry and will continue to defy unjust laws that criminalize compassion and mutual aid."

That includes a planned gathering Tuesday at 8 a.m. in the same location.

"We intend to expose the city's cruelty in the face of thousands in our community who are struggling with issues of food insecurity, mental and medical health issues, poverty, and homelessness," a spokesperson for the group said in an email. "If the city will not address these problems, the least they can do is not get in the way and stop others from addressing these needs. Compassion should never be criminalized.

This isn't the first time activists with the group have been arrested for feeding the homeless, and Food Not Bombs isn't the only group to have been arrested in Tampa for feeding the homeless. Also, Tampa is not the only city in Florida in which it's illegal to feed the homeless without proper paperwork.

In Tampa, the group said it has done the same thing in the same park over 100 times with no trouble, and some suspect it has something to do with the College Football Playoff National Championship and related events taking place in Tampa throughout the weekend.

[ShaquantaBrown]

1. what's wrong with people?

Why they get arrested? They are just doing what the state can't do. Pathetic.

[Turbineguy]

2. Reagan said

people are homeless because they like fresh air. If you feed the homeless it will only encourage them and starve your air conditioner.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Poor people in uniform, attacking poor people who are hungry,

to protect the rights of people who are neither poor, nor hungry.

[HAB911]

4. Buckhorn is a Sandy Freeman clone

there are bad Democrats too I guess