Police charge 90-year-old man, 2 pastors with feeding homeless

Fort Lauderdale police charged three men -- including two pastors and a 90-year-old man -- for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the first such cases made by the city after the a new ordinance effectively banning public food sharings took effect Friday.

The first to be charged was homeless advocate Arnold Abbott, 90, who has been feeding the homeless in Fort Lauderdale for more than 20 years. Also cited were two Christian ministers -- Dwayne Black, pastor of The Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale, and Mark Sims of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs.

All three men face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

"One of the police officers said, 'Drop that plate right now,' as if I were carrying a weapon," said Abbott, who runs a nonprofit group called Love Thy Neighbor, Inc. "It's man's inhumanity to man is all it is."

In 1999, the city tried to stop Abbott from feeding the homeless on Fort Lauderdale Beach, prompting a lawsuit from Abbott, which he won. Now he said he will fight the municipal ordinance charge and be forced to take the city back to court.

Police charge 90yr old man, 2 pastors with feeding homeless

Seriously, WTF U.S government!!!!! Even the UN has condemned the United States for criminalizing homelessness, calling it "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" and that it violates the international human rights treaty obligations. It also called upon the U.S. government to take corrective action, following a two-day review of U.S. government compliance with a human rights treaty ratified in 1992.

"I'm just simply baffled by the idea that people can be without shelter in a country, and then be treated as criminals for being without shelter," said Sir Nigel Rodley, chairman of the committee in closing statements on the U.S. review. "The idea of criminalizing people who don't have shelter is something that I think many of my colleagues might find as difficult as I do to even begin to comprehend."

U.S is cruel, inhumane & degrading to the poor & homeless

The Committee called on the U.S. to abolish criminalization of homelessness laws and policies at state and local levels, intensify efforts to find solutions for homeless people in accordance with human rights standards and offer incentives for decriminalization, including giving local authorities funding for implementing alternatives and withholding funding for criminalizing the homeless.


Why aren't more U.S citizens outraged by this? How many of you have been brainwashed into hating the poor & homeless, that they are just lazy sobs who don't want to do anything?

In this day and age there is no acceptable reason for there to be homeless people and poor people. Everyone should have the basics of life (food, shelter, heat, water) for free. We've been told it's impossible but it is not, the wealthy don't want to change and people don't want to commit to the hard work that is needed in order to achieve these goals. If we can suck it up and buckle down we can make it happen, we can do it. Let's make this place better.

This is an outrage and unacceptable!!!! You bet your boots if those poor and homeless were coming here illegally, they would get fed and a hell of a lot more!

a reply to: Night Star

Exactly.

So does this stupid ordinance cover working people who want to try a bite of your pasta salad because it looks delicious?

"Put the fork down and your hands up. Back away from the lunch special, you're under arrest."

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

That might be next. LOL

Human lives have to matter more than money and power. Human lives matter and have worth. For anyone to be arrested for helping their fellow man is beyond sad. I have no words to express such insanity!

"Drop the plate right now"
I mean seriously, are these 'police' going with this? and I am asking myself is this story true?... well it must be if if the shower of pastors have been charged as well. Ahh, now I get it, the cops wanted the grub for themselves!
Of course it is Fort Ladedah..I forgot about that!
from Movoto . com real estate,
'Cities in California dominate the list with six cities represented in the top 10, but one Florida city was declared the snobbiest mid-size city in the Sunshine State: Fort Lauderdale.' Obviously they ain't gonna want any 'obos or flea ridden pigeons around to disturb the Musk.
Meh! I forgot about this, it's so easy to,



I tell you what, do you care, really? how do those cops even contemplate enforcing that?

The cop said "Drop that plate right now"?

Does this guy go home to a family at night like an actual human being, or does he just get placed in a closet at Police Headquarters until there's a need for a mindless, obedient douche bag?

Fort Lauderdale police charged three men -- including two pastors and a 90-year-old man -- for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the first such cases made by the city after the a new ordinance effectively banning public food sharings took effect Friday.

This ban was put into effect within the last couple of weeks.

Arnold Abbott handed out four plates of food to homeless people in a South Florida park. Then police stopped the 90-year-old from serving up another bite.
"An officer said, 'Drop that plate right now -- like I had a weapon,'" Abbott said.
Abbott and two pastors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were charged for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the city's first crackdowns under a new ordinance banning public food sharing, CNN affiliate WPLG reported.
Now they face possible jail time and a $500 fine, WPLG said.
[/quote]

"I'm not satisfied with having a cycle of homeless in the city of Fort Lauderdale," Seiler said. "Providing them with a meal and keeping them in that cycle on the street is not productive."
But Abbott, who has been helping feed homeless people in the area through his Love Thy Neighbor nonprofit since 1991, said authorities are targeting the city's most vulnerable residents.
"These are the poorest of the poor. They have nothing. They don't have a roof over their head," he said. "Who can turn them away?"

Recently, the city has also passed an ordinance limiting the storage of personal property in public, WPLG said. Then came the restrictions for food sharing.
"The city passed an ordinance requiring us to have a Porta-Potty. It's ridiculous. The whole thing was designed to rid Fort Lauderdale of its homeless," Abbott said. "Police told me anyone who touches a pan ... anyone who is involved, will be arrested."
It's a battle Abbott has fought before. In 1999 he sued the city for banning him from feeding homeless people on the beach -- and won, according to WPLG.
He said the threat of charges won't stop him from doing it again.
"I'm not afraid of jail. I'm not looking to go, but if I have to, I will," he said.
On Wednesday, Abbott said he'll be at Fort Lauderdale Beach, ready to serve another meal.

www.cnn.com...

edit on 5-11-2014 by RunForTheHills because: (no reason given)

This is sad and I hope it does not come the norm elsewhere.

edit on 5-11-2014 by RunForTheHills because: na

90 is the new 75.

I cannot understand how sharing food that you own with someone else is an arrestable offense. If someone gets food poisoning, or purposely feeding nuts to someone who's allergic to peanuts, that could possibly be a legal complaint after the fact. But to arrest someone for sharing a meal, strange indeed.

Classic line: "Drop that plate right now" . Groups feeding the homeless should have that printed on tee-shirts to be handed out to the poor (drop that tee-shirt right now).

Isin't that a violation of internation common law? And the constitution?

Right to food and shelter? Pretty sure that's included in those laws.

but with the *Economy* and *Debt* it's impossible to abide by such laws now isn't it? Well better ignore them because they are inconvinent.

How can a manicipality just do that?

Homeless shelters exist for a reason. Albeit, we are supposed to be more civilized than third world nations no?
Going back to the wild west i see?

In response to Sabiduria -


"In this day and age there is no acceptable reason for there to be homeless people and poor people."


I wanted to give you 2 stars at least for this 1 statement alone.

It can`t be said any better - there is no acceptable reason for anyone, anywhere, in this day and age to be without food and/or shelter.

This is our stage fellow humans and the cosmos are looking on in great amazement shaking their intergalactic heads.

How hard is it to think and know this is wrong? - to pass such idiotic laws within what is supposed to be a sociable and civil society.

Is everyone mad?

Total and utter lunacy. However, on the other side of the pond we've recently seen a backlash against the bizarre introduction of "anti-homeless spikes" in various locations across our cities - everywhere from alcoves and benches to under roadways - it's simply farcical (please see the following link for one prominent example).

One would presume anybody with even an ounce of compassion in their bodies would wish to help a homeless person rather than hinder them, but perhaps I'm being idealistic rather than realistic when I say that. People can be cruel indeed, as the basis of this thread displays better than I can with words.

a reply to: csulli456

Everyone is brainwashed into thinking this is acceptable.

I hear all the time (even on ATS) "homeless people are too lazy to get a job" and "people on welfare are milking the system" and it drives me nuts because it is a terrible assumption that everyone who is homeless or on welfare is lazy. It shows me how those are people who live in a bubble world and don't know what it is like to actually struggle to make ends meet.

I have a question for the nincompoops who passed this law. Was this passed over some kind of health code concerns? Are you afraid that there is some kind of liability issue with feeding homeless people actual food, because I would like to remind you that quite often, these same people eat from DUMPSTERS. What is next, requiring locking lids for all dumpsters in your city so homeless people can't eat ANYTHING?

a reply to: ScientiaFortisDefendit

It's not just Florida. Many other States have similar laws and abuses to the homeless/poor.

Anti-homeless laws -- ranging from bans on sleeping in cars to restrictions on lying down in public -- are on the rise, according to a new study released by the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP). Since 2009, the organization has been tracking such measures in 187 cities and found that these ordinances are costly and don't make much of a dent in reducing homelessness rates.

The number of cities that prohibit sitting or lying in public spaces, for example, increased from 70 in 2011 to 100 this year -- a 43 percent jump. In 2011, 37 cities banned sleeping in cars. The restriction has now jumped to 81 cities, a 119 percent increase.

Homeless People Can't Sit On Sidewalks In More Than Half Of U.S. Cities

Columbia, South Carolina Enacts Controversial Measure Against People Helping Homeless

Angry Residents Wave Pitchforks, Torches In Protest Of Mayor's Crackdown On Homelessness
Yes I know Tampa Bay is in Florida but this still needed to be shared.
Tampa Criminalizes Homelessness (VIDEO)

Things are so bad, this is the result:

Advocates now hope that by pushing through a "Homeless Bill of Rights" in Colorado, California and Oregon, homeless people will feel less like criminals, and more like citizens with the chance to move forward in life. The bills will give people on the streets the freedom to move around, among other basic rights.

“It’s important to note how this sort of criminalization follows in the footsteps of laws that have been on the books in past, with the primary goal of pushing ‘undesirables’ out of the public space,” Terese Howard, member of advocacy group Denver Homeless Out Loud, told Al Jazeera of anti-homeless laws. “Whether that’s Jim Crow, sundown laws, anti-Okie laws, these laws discriminate against only a certain type of people.”

A coalition of more than 125 social justice groups has come together with lawyers and people living on the streets to draft the Homeless Bill of Rights to be introduced to state legislatures

'Homeless Bill Of Rights' Wants People On Streets To Be Able To Freely Stand, Sit In Public