Protesters opposing the city's panhandling ordinance gather at busy intersections and pass out flyers that say 'Criminalizing panhandling does not make our communities safer or better.'

CRANSTON, R.I. — Homeless advocates challenging the city's new panhandling ordinance received $3, some nasty shouts, multiple supportive comments and one Kashi chocolate almond bar with sea salt and chia from drivers at the intersection of Sockanosset Cross Road and New London Avenue near Garden City Monday evening.

The police handed out 15 citations to them — and to two members of the media — for what police considered their defiance of the city regulation and state statutes.

"I will fight this all the way," said Gregory Morton, with the Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project, who received an $85 city ticket for violating the panhandling regulation when he gave drivers flyers explaining the opposition.

Approved by a split City Council in February, the ordinance prohibits panhandling and other "fundraising" from people in motor vehicles on a major street.

It replaced an ordinance the city abandoned last year in the settlement of a lawsuit by a panhandler who was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. The homeless advocates believe the new ordinance is also unconstitutional.

"I am completely offended the City of Cranston and City Council has decided the First Amendment doesn't apparently matter in Cranston, and it's more important to take poor people and homeless people out of public view," said Roger Williams University law school professor Andrew Horwitz, who received a citation and hearing date for a state law violation: standing in the highway.

(An ABC6 cameraman received a similar citation, and WPRO-AM reporter Steve Klamkin got a ticket for crossing the street, not in the walkway.)

About 50 people stood from 4 to 6 p.m. in seven different medians at the busy intersection. They had signs and gave out flyers that started with, "Criminalizing panhandling does not make out communities safer or better!" The protest was organized by the Homeless Bill of Rights Defense Committee, a collective of organizations.

Some signs were simple, such as "Be Kind," while others were specific. One worn by Cranston resident Duane Clinker, former pastor of Open Table of Christ church in Providence, read: "Helping is a religious practice outlawed in Cranston."

Said Clinker, "I felt [the ordinance] was part of the Trump idea — hate, rage, divide, hate your neighbor. The ability to help, and give help, is just a basic human right."

Another sign was directed at Mayor Allan Fung: "Fung is the real menace to public safety."

"I stand by the road-safety ordinance and am confident the Cranston Police Department will properly enforce the law on our roadways," Fung said in a statement. "This ordinance is about public safety and making sure nobody gets hurt or involved in an accident in one of our busy intersections."

He continued, "This ordinance is narrowly tailored to restrict transactions from occurring in the roadway in specific high-traffic intersections. As mayor, I have a responsibility to ensure the public is safe, whether they're on foot or behind the wheel."

Megan Smith, outreach project manager with House of Hope CDC who works directly with the homeless, said, "it's so shortsighted and counterproductive to criminalize people for an act that is necessary to their survival. We live in a system where the waiting list for housing and public benefits is months, if not years long and where we don't have enough living-wage jobs."

She received three citations, two for the city ordinance because she gave a driver a flyer after an officer had already given her the first ticket, and one for a state highway law violation. The state tickets set court hearings in May and June. No fine was set on the state tickets.

Capt. Russell Henry explained that the officers were just enforcing the law.

— apina@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7465

On Twitter: @AlishaPina