And it's not because they hate 6-ft tall mice in suspenders.
About the arrest & statute in question:
So they had received the required permit, rejected it, advertised for people to come in defiance of the permit they had received (and rejected), and then protest when they are arrested (after serving the food to the homeless, btw) for not having the permit they were offered and then rejected? And then Anonymous is going to attack Orlando's municipal websites because of it?
How are they helping feed homeless people by getting themselves locked up? It's not like they aren't getting the permit that is required to do what they need to do. It's not like Orlando is preventing them from feeding the homeless (as they charge). They are preventing themselves from doing so, it would appear.
And it's already started, apparently:PMSNBC wrote:
The hacker group Anonymous on Monday declared war against the city of Orlando, Florida, over the arrest of people handing out food to homeless people, according to a report in The Washington Post.
In a press release, the group announced the creation of "Operation Orlando" over the city's treatment of the Food Not Bombs group.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that what started as a spat over distributing food without a permit in a park had escalated, with Mayor Buddy Dyer describing the activists charged with the misdemeanor offense as "food terrorists."
Anonymous seizes Tunisian government site
This prompted one member, Ben Markeson, to threaten to file a defamation suit, the Sentinel reported.
The Anonymous press release said the city had "ignored our warnings, and our generous offer of a cease fire."
'Human rights abusers'
"On Wednesday last you not only arrested two more people for feeding but you arrested the worldwide President of Food Not Bombs Keith McHenry. This is a declaration of war," it said.
"Henceforth there will be no more cease fires, no more attempts to get you to resolve this issue with human decency. We will now treat you like the human rights abusers that you are," it added.
About the arrest & statute in question:
Orlando Food Not Bombs lost a court battle on the Constitutionality of the permit requirement 10-0 in April at the 11th District Court of Appeals in Atlanta. One would think the issue was dead at that point. Not so. They filed for the requisite permit to carry on their activities and received it...then rejected it (as reflected above) in order to protest something that had already been decided 10-0 in an appellate court.The group lost a court battle in April, clearing the way for the city to enforce the ordinance. It requires groups to obtain a permit and limits each group to two permits per year for each park within a 2-mile radius of City Hall.
Arrest papers state that Cross, Markeson and McHenry helped feed 40 people Wednesday night. The ordinance applies to feedings of more than 25 people.
Police waited until everyone was served to make the arrests, said Douglas Coleman, speaking for Orlando Food Not Bombs.
"They basically carted them off to jail for feeding hungry people," said Coleman, who was not present. "For them to regulate a time and place for free speech and to share food, that is unacceptable."
Orlando Food Not Bombs has been feeding the homeless breakfast on Mondays for several years and dinner on Wednesdays for five years.
Police had not enforced the ordinance while the court battle continued. The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta ruled that city rules regulating how often large groups of people can be fed in a park do not violate the Constitution.
The penalty for violating Orlando's ordinance is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Arrest documents state that Orlando Food Not Bombs received permits and fed more than 25 homeless people at Lake Eola Park on May 18 and 23. Coleman said the group rejected the permits.
On May 25, Orlando Food Not Bombs illegally fed a large group of homeless people, the police report states. The group on its website called for members to show up that day and defy the city ordinance, according to the report.
Officers said they found a press release on Markeson when they arrested him stating that group members planned to defy the ordinance Wednesday.
So they had received the required permit, rejected it, advertised for people to come in defiance of the permit they had received (and rejected), and then protest when they are arrested (after serving the food to the homeless, btw) for not having the permit they were offered and then rejected? And then Anonymous is going to attack Orlando's municipal websites because of it?
How are they helping feed homeless people by getting themselves locked up? It's not like they aren't getting the permit that is required to do what they need to do. It's not like Orlando is preventing them from feeding the homeless (as they charge). They are preventing themselves from doing so, it would appear.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
