Well it fills the Prisons, so someone is profiting from this.

Come on Florida.. again?

To be fair, the last thing you want is for the homeless to become unafraid of humans. Soon they'll be getting into your garbage cans, slaughtering and eating your cat, shitting on your lawn, climbing up your trees...

...oh wait, I'm thinking of bears.

Florida is the asshole of America

This is unbelievable. In this video some PEOPLE are stopping some other PEOPLE from giving food to hungry PEOPLE. Did they get so obsessed with their shiny blue uniform that they forgot that they were people with freedom to choose whether to let hungry people eat or not?

I feel like if i'd been one of the police there, i'd have had a sudden existential crisis - what the fuck have i been convinced to do here? I'm here in an authoritative capacity to stop desperate, hungry people from getting access to food. Shit, i'd have tried to organise a mass human shield around them.

I think everyone should take 5 seconds and just think exactly how this came to pass - from the law being written by the guys we endorsed, right down to the chain of command commanding these people apparently raised to obey orders unflinchingly - and then collectively feel embarrassed about it.

Sure, this may have been avoided if the proper 'housing'(?) could be arranged and it may have been inexpensive, but did it really fucking need to when it was going more smoothly than anything the government could have arranged?

Why is nobody interfering?

That description seems incorrect, I don't see any evidence of arrest, the officer clearly states he is giving a citation, and if they do it again they will be arrested. Not that this is not incredibly shameful, and difficult to comprehend. I really wonder what gave rise to the law that made this illegal.

DIS-FUCKING-GUSTING!

Charity being outlawed is just.... what a bunch of little pieces of shit, the assholes... tremendous assholes, horrible human beings, who not only proposed, but voted for something like this to become law.

I like how you say that Southern Christian Values are being made illegal when Florida is one of the most Southern, most Christian places on the fucking Earth.

When an officer takes you away or detains you against your will...you are under arrest. It's possible they were not taken to jail, but they were at least temporarily arrested. At least that's how cops have described it to me.

To be fair, the police don't make the laws, their job is to enforce it. At least a couple of them don't look too happy to have to be doing it too. If you don't like that it's illegal to feed homeless, take out on the real douche bags that created the law.

To be fair, they chose their job. It's unethical to place yourself in a position where you'll be obliged to do unethical things. That's why every agent of law enforcement in the US is a criminal.

If you tried to take it out on the real douchebags who created the law, these douchebags would be the ones stopping you. What we need is a few thousand corpses to get the ball rolling on a nice, widespread extermination.

I think you forgot the sarcasm tag.

Since when do laws have anything to do with ethics?

I can't even here what he's being cited for. Maybe he needs a permit? I've heard that some of the laws in play are coming from food safety laws.

To be fair, he's talking about putting yourself in a position where you enforce 'unethical' laws. There's a distinct difference between the law, those that 'create' them, and those that enforce it.

Yes, and it's not the polices job to decide which laws are enforced and which aren't or even worse, who those laws are applied to. It's bad enough already, does anyone really want to give the cops that kind of power?

If you are a police officer and you are asked to enforce a truly unconscionable law, then yes, you should refuse to do your job.

This is certainly bad and a stupid law, but I'm quite sure it crosses that line.

However, that lady copy should have given her name, and should be sanctioned for not doing so.

Have you actually looked at a map of the US? Florida is clearly the prick, Texas is the butt, and Louisiana is the asshole. Mississippi and Alabama would be the taint.

Seems about right to me.

I couldn't even bear to watch the video to listen for the audio, but I think it's likely you are correct. This is yet another context-less internet video which someone has placed in an inflammatory context. Obviously they're not being cited for giving away food. That's not illegal. Everyone's flailing about "LET THEM FEED THE HOMELESS" (including the post title) but if there's a food safety violation going on here, well, it's the job of the police to make sure they don't get a bunch of people sick, especially some homeless folk who probably don't have a good way to get to the ER if they get really bad food poisoning.

A responsible news crew (or anyone interested in providing context) would have followed up with a word from the guys being cited, and with a police spokesperson to get the real story from both sides.

With all of that said, the cynic in me is still here. He says "it can't be that hard to give safe (apparently catered) food away on the street for free, with or without a permit".

Well it takes about 10 fucking seconds with google to find out the truth here. Arnold Abbott (whose name should be in the title/tags/description/somewhere imo) was cited for violating the new city ordinance against feeding the homeless in a public space. There was NO "food safety" violation whatsoever. And the last time this happened he sued Ft. Lauderdale and won. But they changed the law now to make it worse. They don't want the homeless people there. That's all there is to it. This is why you see other heartless cunt towns giving homeless people free bus tickets. They just want the homeless out. Don't feed them. Just get them the fuck out of there. To hell with solving the problem or treating them like human beings.

Here's an update (because he's done it again) with includes all the parties involved (police, the accused and the cunt mayor):

http://khon2.com/2014/11/06/90-year-old-florida-man-cited-again-for-feeding-homeless-facing-jail-time/

And it wasn't "apparently catered". Where do you get that and why would it even matter? I don't even know what it means. Any food hot on a table with some sternos is a catered event?

Honestly, they should just give all the homeless they are trying to serve a penny. Then set up their "catered" event and charge the homeless one penny to eat. Now they're not giving it away.

Jesus, fucking hostile much? Thanks for posting a proper news link which this thread was lacking, but I'm not sure you read it thoroughly. "Parks shall not be used for business or social services." Nobody can sell or give away food there, to rich people or to homeless people. No hot dog stands unless they get a letter from the city.

The fact that the mayor amended his statement from "feeding the homeless just enables them" to "you can feed the homeless, but only indoors" belies his real feelings on the matter, but his excuse does have lots of precedent behind it. Cities mandate permits for all kinds of stuff, especially on public land. Not only that, but if you serve the food closer to the kitchen it stays hotter longer which reduces the risk of food poisoning. So, food safety? Technically yes. Not making the occasional exception for charity? Pretty shitty. I wonder what would happen if they asked for a permit.

And "catered food" describes how it was prepared, not how it is served. It is purchased from a business with inspected kitchens and health ratings, not from some person's back room where they leave the chicken out unrefrigerated covered in rat shit. It also usually comes in identical bins like that, whereas a randomized tupperware collection would look more like something privately prepared. It was just an observation which could indicate (or preclude) more food safety issues.

Do church kitchens have health inspections since they are not restaurants? Maybe that's the next thing the mayor can crack down on to keep the homeless hungry so they learn to get a job.

In conclusion, I hate writing follow-ups to internet comments, because now I know there's going to be another round to which I will probably not respond. Don't be offended.

The issue is they made it impossible for charities to comply by requiring permits AND they must supply port-a-potty's AND can't be within 500 feet or 1 block of another charity OR 500 feet from a residential property, among other new requirements. They did this clearly in order to 'starve the homeless into not being homeless', or in it's supporters words..."Hunger is a big motivator. Are people more likely to seek help when they're hungry or when they're fed and happy?" (fed and HAPPY?!? ) or...Ron Book, chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust, told city lawmakers "Feeding people on the streets is sanctioning homelessness,"... "Whatever discourages feeding people on the streets is a positive thing." It is NOT a food safety violation or issue. It's a 'get the homeless the fuck out of our town' issue.

How many of those people were actually homeless? I'm pretty sure I saw a bunch of well-off people simply there for free food.

Simply not being homeless (yet) doesn't mean you're well off. There is a LOT of covert poverty. People who we're doing ok for themselves until they lost their jobs, and now can't even get enough food on the plate for their kids, and they're ashamed of it.

To be fair about being fair there are a lot of assumptions in your post. One they did not arrest him on the spot. That leaves a little dignity for the World War 2 veteran. Although the State picking it up at all is a douche move. Two, he probably will not go to jail at all. They say "Up to 60 days" which really means "We just like to give round numbers that won't ever fucking happen because it's sensational."

You could in theory be sentenced to a year in county time for trespassing, but that will not happen the first 40 times or so. (I have seen people sentenced to that much time. And by people I mean "person".)

Off that subject, if law officers obsessed over every immoral law out there then in no world system would there be any law. The laws against crack rock? Extremely, blatantly racist. Pot laws? I think a bit immoral. Laws against effective protest measures, gay marriage, fuck, even public nudity. All these laws are someone else's bullshit of how things ought to be.

The next problem is that of cause and effect. We have banned child molesters from most of the city areas in an attempt to get them away from "our" children. The side effect is that we really haven't solved the issue. The chronically homeless (Not to be confused with the majority of homeless who actually get out of being homeless) are mentally ill and or on drugs. Although not particularly dangerous or volatile, this is Florida, and even our homeless are more dangerous than other parts of the county.

Lastly, there are no moral jobs out there. If you work for a hospital, business, restaurant, power company, phone company, agricultural etc you are working for an evil, evil place. This is America--money keeps us running. And the homeless have no money.

Not always. A person baker-acted is taken to jail for his own protection. He is cuffed and dumped into the back of a patrol car just like everyone else but few would say that someone taken in because he has displayed obvious signs that he will kill himself is hardly under arrest. After the normal 72 hours of substandard help he or she is free to go without a criminal charge.

Moving someone out of a particularly embarrassing/dangerous situation is another example. I won't watch the video so I don't know. It's too sad--that we have laws on the books for this. But it does make rich people feel safe I guess. My only legitimate reasoning is that the rich won't pay for housing these people in humane living conditions while they fear them.

It was an old man being arrested for helping people. End of.
If that sits ok with you then fine. Personally I find it utterly repugnant.

You are incorrect. If you are held, handcuffed, and taken in I think nearly 100% of people would call that 'arrested', including the police. The reason for the arrest is irrelevant to the fact that it is an arrest.
The police themselves have repeatedly told me that if you are being held, even to be given a ticket, you are under arrest. If you have been handcuffed, you have been arrested. If you're taken in against your wishes, you're under arrest.
SWEET ZOMBIE JEBUS! If you 'won't watch the video', stop commenting on it, it makes you a moron to speak with authority about things you have absolutely no idea about. It's not long, what's your problem?

how can some of you NOT see the obvious?
you think this is about law and permits?
fucking seriously???

this is a politically targeted strategy to remove the eye-sore that is a homeless person from the tender eyeballs of over-privileged fuckheads.
the ever changing laws are CREATED to do just that,and chaos is so right,most cops HATE having to be the ones enforcing these demeaning,dehumanizing laws.

at least hard-core right wing nutbags have the balls to openly despise the poor,but treehugging liberals just cant stomach seeing the wretched openly walking their streets.
they know they exist...
they fret,weep and wring their hands for those poor souls but to actually SEE them?
well,that kind of reality is just too much for their tender sensibilities.
so they criminalize being poor.

hypocritical assholes..the lot of them.

i have lived all over,from boston to san diego and broward county is,by far,the richest i have ever lived in.

but it is mainly a tourist city,so they cant have bums sleeping on the sidewalk or begging for change at the intersections.what would the vacationing swedish family think?
i mean...the horror..the absolute horror!

so they create laws to criminalize the poor in order to sweep them under the rug.just like your momma used to make you clean your room before aunt florence came over.

it is morally bankrupt and ethically repugnant.

god DAMN this pisses me off to no end!
/rant OFF

safety issues?
permits?
fuck me,the dumb is strong here...........

EDIT: retracted and I stand corrected.

@newtboy
whoa whoa scooter..slow yer roll.
i lived in lauderdale and there aint NOTHING conservative about that joint.huge gay community AND a huge new york jewish community.
so yeah..liberal.

and rich.im not talking "kinda rich" im talking 'lets pull our 5 story yacht to have dinner on an over-priced intercoastal posh eatery" (which i worked at quite a few).

so i dont know what set you off,when i am speaking from actual experience.
was it the word "liberal"?
ok..let me rephrase...
obscenely rich liberals who dont want to actually SEE poor,homeless people.
they want them..you know..over there------------>
the whole "not in my back yard" thing.

yes..they donate handsomely.
yes..they gift furniture and other essentials.
yes..they help sponsor food drives (but over there------->)

so im not saying they are bad people.
i am saying they are hypocrites.
because THEY are the most vocal in local government,and while they may be generous in their charities they are also the ones who push to get those icky,unshowered homeless people out of plain sight.

cuz homeless people are icky.
what would their vacationing austrian family think???

and since tourism is the MAIN source of income in the lauderdale/boca/west palm area,the local government does what it does best.

criminalize the poor.

so it wasnt a case of "starve the poor".
it was a case of "hey,we see poor people..and in PUBLIC"

the horror......
poor people...
in public...
they must need therapy now.

i live on the west coast now (and not the cool naples west coast) and yes..this bunch of dimwitted morons who retired from middle management in order to over pay for their golf privileges and get all their news from FOX are exactly the demographic you are talking about.

not to mention the gulf coast seems to be a white trash mecca.

and yes..there IS an evangelical baptist church on every corner (true story).

and it is with great sadness that i have to admit to being neighbors with these very same dimbulbs who just re-elected rick scott.the same man who paid out the largest medicare fraud in HISTORY!

so thanks for reminding me i live in a mudpit of retards....thanks newt.

im gonna go crawl into a ball now and cry myself to sleep humming the doors "this is the end".

Well, OK....if you live(d) there you DO know it better than I. I have family near by, and have driven through many times. It always seemed far more 'conservative' than you say, but again, I never lived there, I'm just going by fleeting impressions and second hand info.
What set me off was 2 part...first that you didn't bother to watch the video but still commented on it as if you had (not so bad a thing, but odd), and second the implication that anti-homeless laws were a 'LIBERAL' thing and not a 'CONSERVATIVE' thing, because the videos shown/seen have clearly shown the opposite. Apologies if I went overboard.
The one's on film saying 'feeding them is keeping them homeless' or 'we don't want homeless people here, period, and anything that removes them or makes them uncomfortable is what we want' have all been republican/tea party elderly white people. It may be they're the outliers and it really IS a 'liberal' plan, but I ask you, which 'party' does the chairman of the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust belong to (I honestly don't know)? (I must admit I was really surprised to see the mayor is a Democrat).
So, while you seem to be at least partially correct (maybe totally), I hope you understand why I was (apparently) mistaken, since all the vocal people out there promoting starving the homeless are conservatives.
Where I live, it's a 'liberal' bastion, and we DO feed the homeless here along with other services they're offered, and we have a very vocal 'conservative' population that wants to do exactly what Ft Lauderdale did, make feeding them or offering ANY service illegal, including police and medical services. They're pretty hard core about it.

Yes, I think it was about 'starve the poor' as a method of removing them from sight, either by death or (more likely) displacement. It's not so much they want them dead, it's just they don't care if that's what it takes to remove them. That in itself SEEMS to be a 'conservative' mindset, not 'liberal'.
...but perhaps a Florida 'liberal democrat' is more right wing than a West coast 'conservative republican'?

Ahh, and we all live in a cesspool of retards and liars. Never forget! ;-)

russell brand-comments on the illegality of feeding the poor has been added as a related post - related requested by enoch on that post.

Wouldn't it be better, and safer for everyone, if we could just build some sort of "place" for these homeless people to live? Provide them with the basic needs of life like food, clothing and shelter. A cot to sleep on. A yard to exercise in. A place where they could make friends and network with other desperate people?

Hell, maybe we can even put them to work! One man's "slave labor" is another man's "productive member of society", after all.

Granted, some of these people are dangerous! When you hit rock bottom and have nothing left to lose, that can turn a man into an animal. So maybe we should surround the place with barbed wire and electric fences. And guard towers, just in case.

Maybe put bars on the windows and doors?

I'm just spitballing ideas here.