Please don't feed the homeless: Good Samaritans ARRESTED and facing jail... for handing out food

Seven activists arrested in Orlando for feeding homeless in Lake Eola Park

Charged with misdemeanors, they could get 60 days in jail and a $500 fine

Food Not Bombs activists lost a federal appeal to overturn controversial law

City says they should use designated feeding area

Booked: Ben Markeson was arrested June 1 during a feeding of the homeless at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando

They just wanted to feed the hungry.

But now seven activists face charges of violating an Orlando, Florida city ordinance that could net them 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.

On June 6, four people were arrested in Orlando's Lake Eola Park for passing out vegan food to the homeless for breakfast.

They are Steve Willis, Dylan Howeller, Noelle Bivens, and Brock Monroe.

Last week, Jonathan 'Keith' McHenry, 54, Ben Markeson, 49, and Jessica Cross, 24, were released from the Orange County Jail on $250 bail each, according to the Orlando Sentinel.



Judge Thomas Kirkland gave the three charged people a trespass warning and told them they must keep away from Lake Eola Park, where they had been serving free food to the homeless with their anti-poverty activist group Orlando Food Not Bombs.



But Mr Markeson said that Food Not Bombs would continue to feed those in need in Lake Eola Park. He said he and Ms Cross would stay away from the parks, and help cook food elsewhere.



Mr Markeson told reporters: 'I don't know why they're so threatened by people ladling out food'.

A spokesperson for the Orlando police, Lieutenant Barb Jones, told MailOnline: 'They can feed twice in each park with the permit, there are other places they can feed, and the city has set up locations for them to feed.



'This is just a group that has decided that they want to be able to feed no matter what the city has done.

'We paid for their permits. These are misdemeanors, as drinking alcohol in the park is a violation. There are a lot of things you can't do in city parks'.

Mr McHenry said he would be representing himself in court against the charges of breaking the city law.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, he lives in Taos, New Mexico but has been staying with friends in the area, near Winter Park, Florida.



Mr McHenry is a co-founder of the international Food Not Bombs movement, which has local chapters in many cities, especially college towns.

Facing jail or fine: On Thursday, Jonathan 'Keith' McHenry, 54, and Jessica Cross, 24, were released from the Orange County Jail on $250 bail each. They still face misdemeanor charges

Feeding: The anti-poverty group Orlando Food Not Bombs has been passing out free food in city parks for years. Mr Markeson said: 'I don't know why they're so threatened by people ladling out food'

Food Not Bombs started in Cambridge, Massachussetts in 1980 and is well known for passing out free vegetarian and vegan food to anyone who shows up to events, regardless of whether they are homeless, the working poor or just looking for some grub and company.

The group is also known for anti-war demonstrations and running seminars on poverty issues.



According to the group's website, Orlando Food Not Bombs has been distributing free food in downtown Orlando every Wednesday since January 2005, with breakfast on Mondays added in spring 2008.

The group notes that other religious and secular organizations have also passed out food in area parks for years.



However, in July 2006, the Orlando City Council passed an ordinance limiting any group that holds a food sharing-event that attracts 25 or more people (including those serving the food) to two permitted events per downtown park per 12-month period.

The ordinance included more than three dozen public parks in what is often called the Greater Downtown Park District. This includes Lake Eola Park, a prominent landmark often called the city's 'crown jewel', and which hosts the fountain that appears on the city's official seal.



Clashes: Food Not Bombs members have been arrested several times over the past few years in Orlando, though all have been acquitted so far. City rep says they have opportunities to continue their work legally

WHERE IS FEEDING ILLEGAL?

Several U.S. cities have adopted or are considered ordinances limiting distribution of food in parks.

Most restrict the time and place of handouts, usually with the stated goal of discouraging homeless people from congregating in an attempt to preserve public safety and 'beauty'.

In Las Vegas, a 2006 law made it illegal to give any food to 'the indigent' in city parks. A lengthy legal challenge followed, and in September 2010 the city compromised by allowing gatherings of up to 75 people without a permit. Fort Myers, Florida and Santa Monica, California scaled back ordinances restricting feedings after protests and legal challenges. In Santa Monica, it now requires a permit to feed 'hot food' to more than 150. In Orlando, a 2006 ordinance limits any group that holds a food sharing-event that attracts 25 or more people (including those serving the food) to two permitted events per downtown park per 12-month period. A legal challenge by Food Not Bombs and another group was tossed out by a federal appeals court, which ruled such laws do not violate free speech.



Orlando Food Not Bombs claims 'the city seems oblivious to the fact that people need to eat every day, not just two times a year'.



According to the group, the city justifies the law by claiming that food scraps left over could be 'harmful to birds and squirrels' and that sharing events can endanger public health by spreading rubbish and endanger public safety by attracting crime.

Food Not Bombs counters that they only use a designated picnic area, which would normally be subject to all the same issues during daily use.



The group claims, 'Many observers contend that the City's rationales for the measure are, in reality, ugly and malignant.



'The City doesn't want homeless people downtown because it considers them unsightly, annoying and bad for business and an impediment to the local social/political/economic elite's goals of downtown redevelopment and gentrification.

'The City sees profits as being more important than people, especially poor and marginalized people, and their basic human needs, such as food and shelter'.



The group accuses the city of trying to 'deny the poor and homeless dignity, respect, equal treatment and equal access to public amenities such as parks'.



A U.S. District Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled in April that the city of Orlando does have the right to regulate food sharings with such an ordinance, and that doing so does not restrict free speech.

Orlando Food Not Bombs and The First Vagabonds Church of God had filed a federal lawsuit against the city. The latter group is led by a formerly homeless man named Brian Nichols.



Court battles: A federal judge ruled that Orlando's 2006 ordinance violated the group's free speech, but that ruling was overturned on appeal in April Mr Markeson says Food Not Bombs will continue to feed those in need in Lake Eola Park. He says he and Ms Cross will stay away from the parks, and help cook food behind the scenes

On September 26, 2008, federal Judge Gregory Presnell ruled that the ordinance violated the groups' free speech rights to engage in activities that express political beliefs. However, that decision did not stand on appeal in April.



After that recent ruling, Orlando police began making arrests of activists feeding people in parks, usually after food was distributed. Prior to that, they were reportedly not enforcing the law, to see how the court case turned out.

Ms Jones told MailOnline.com: 'The city ordinance was upheld, which is why the law is being enforced. All we do is enforce city ordinances and state and federal law.'

Orlando Food Not Bombs did receive permits from the city to feed the homeless on May 18 and May 23, which Ms Jones said the city paid for.



On May 25, the group also fed a large group of people, in violation of the ordinance, according to local police.

Orlando Food Not Bombs claims the area the city set up to allow public feedings is 'unwelcoming' and 'unappetizing'. The group criticizes the high barbed wire fence around the area, the fact that it is actually a parking lot, the fact that there are no hand wash stations, and the fact that it has limited hours of operation.

The group also alleges that eight homeless men 'have been beaten by teenagers' in the area in the past few months, including one man who allegedly died from his injuries.



'Inhumane': Ms Cross, a professional chef and baker, said: 'It's inhumane to tell people they should not give food to the hungry'. The city says they can do it in a designated place

Ms Cross, a professional chef and baker, told the Orlando Sentinel she got involved in the anti-hunger movement while a student at the University of Central Florida.

She said: 'It's inhumane to tell people they should not give food to the hungry'.

This isn't the first time Orlando Food Not Bombs has clashed with police. In March 2007, three group members were issued parking tickets while unloading food at a park. Two were later rescinded while the third didn't appeal.

In April 2007, group member Eric Montanez was arrested for violating the ordinance after 'two masked cops in a black SUV with tinted windows videotaped him ladling out stew 30 times. OPD used eight officers to apprehend this nefarious evildoer.



'The cops even took a sample of OFNB's delicious vegan stew as evidence', the group states. Mr Montanez was acquitted at a jury trial.

In June 2007, six members of OFNB were arrested for drumming too loudly during a protest against the food-sharing ordinance outside a campaign fundraiser for Orlando Mayor 'Buddy' Dyer.

