Easy loophole: befriend them.
Ask them for their name. Tell them yours. It's not illegal to eat pizza with a friend, and in that instance their situation otherwise is not relevant at all.
Fuck anyone who has an issue with it. Keep feeding people who have it rough, if you want.
Easy loophole: befriend them.
Food Not Bombs in Houston gets ticketed all the time by cops who simply do not give a shit about the law. Tens of thousands of dollars in fines get thrown out every year. It doesn't matter, because the cops keep showing up and keep handing out tickets, forcing volunteers to keep showing up in court and fighting over it.
Fuck anyone who has an issue with it. Keep feeding people who have it rough, if you want.
Absolutely. People love to pretend that "Sticking it too the man!" means throwing on a balaklava and brandishing a gun. The harder truth is that its about keeping our neighbors alive when the city is trying to do them in through social murder.
But let's not pretend there's One Neat Trick to outwitting a thumb-headed trigger-happy gang of rent-a-fascists. You aren't going to argue your way out of a ticket for feeding the homeless any more than a sovereign citizen could. Cops aren't there to argue with you. They're there to put the boot on your neck.
There's a park in my town where homeless people tend to gather because it's one of the few places with benches and shade. My friends and I threw a cookout at the park and went around inviting everyone in and near the park to join us. We don't have a huge homeless population here, but there were a dozen or so homeless folks that joined. Cops showed up and harassed us for a little while, but luckily a sergeant showed up and let them know that no laws were being broken. It also helps that I used to work for the Medical Examiner's Office, so a lot of the cops know me from being on scenes together. It's not exactly a "get out of jail free" card, but they do treat me with a little more respect than the average person gets.
I don't know about the laws in other places, but here in Florida when you hand out food, the cops use the excuse of "food safety" to shut you down or even fine and arrest you. It's all bullshit of course, but that's their legal backing. But when you're throwing a cookout, it's food that you are eating, and just happen to be sharing with guests. There's not a damn thing they can do about it.
People should have more cookouts in public parks, invite everyone, and make sure that includes people who are struggling. Then it's just a party, and like you say, the guests situation otherwise is irrelevant.
here in Florida when you hand out food, the cops use the excuse of “food safety” to shut you down or even fine and arrest you
When I went to UF the local Hare Krishna temple used to set up on the quad and serve food (for a nominal $1 a plate but you didn't have to pay). I wonder if they're still able to do that.
I think it makes a difference if it's done in a designated area where you have permission, like a University or church. There's an old man in Tampa who has been arrested a bunch of times because he hands out sandwiches, but he just goes around the street doing it.
Joke aside, giving homeless people isn't actually illegal right? That'd be almost as insane as half the stuff the US has inacted lately.
Edit: oh wow, that is disgunstingly inhumane and I have no idea how someone can support policy that bans charity and still sleep at night.
Armed to deter cops? Wouldn't that give them more reasons though?
I'm going to be honest, I used to feel that exact way, but then looking at the way the cops treated unarmed BLM protestors vs. the way they treated armed Proud Boys counter-protests made me feel... a little bit less clear about that feeling. I wouldn't call it a clear feeling one way or the other, and I'm appalled at the idea of crossfire at what ought to be a non-violent protest, but it's hard for me to take an absolutely pacifistic stance anymore.
the way the cops treated unarmed BLM protestors vs. the way they treated armed Proud Boys counter-protests
Uh, there might be another reason for that difference. In fact that difference might explain why the Proud Boys felt comfortable packing.
Depends on the area but it certainly is illegal in some places.
Edited to add, to be clear it's not really laws that say "you cannot feed homeless people". But that is how they are enforced.
it's illegal where I am in the USA to give housed people a bottle of water standing for hours in the direct sunlight if they're in line to vote.
The hope is that will disincentive people to vote.
I would get in the habit of carrying cases of bottled water past lines of voters and tripping.
Just like actively doing something against climate change. They are striving to make both things illegal and punishable.
Community service should be a far more common sentence than it is.
In all honesty it’s not really even a punishment. It’s paying the community back for causing it harm.
Getting arrested for feeding the homeless, right...
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