Two ministers, 90-year-old man arrested for feeding the homeless

[Achilleslastand]

Arnold Abbott was one of the first to be arrested under a new law when he tried to feed hundreds of homeless people outside his church.
http://news.yahoo.com/video/two-mini...193007210.html

[stick47]

Maybe the city didn't want to encourage more homeless to migrate into their community?

ETA: but then San Fran is a sanctuary city for illegals

[ljbab728]

That video doesn't give much detail about exactly how he is violating the law and I'm not going to take time to research it. It just seems to me that he could find a way to feed homeless people without violating a law if that is the only objective. Charities do that all over the country every day. I suspect that OKC would not look kindly on local charities setting up to feed homeless people in the middle of the Myriad Gardens every day. It can easily be accomplished without doing that.

[Jersey Boss]

That video doesn't give much detail about exactly how he is violating the law and I'm not going to take time to research it. It just seems to me that he could find a way to feed homeless people without violating a law if that is the only objective. Charities do that all over the country every day. I suspect that OKC would not look kindly on local charities setting up to feed homeless people in the middle of the Myriad Gardens every day. It can easily be accomplished without doing that.

Fort Lauderdale Passes Law That Restricts Feeding Homeless People

This explains the new ordinance. Niiiice.

[kelroy55]

Yeah... I don't want to look at all those hungry people while I'm eating my lunch.

[Plutonic Panda]

Map of attempting food sharing bans. OKC is included.



- Is Giving Food to the Homeless Illegal in Your City Too? | Mother Jones

[bombermwc]

Before you get your panties in a wad, we should consider why these laws were created. Is the city looking to keep people starving, of course not. The point is to get it done in a way that best serves that homeless community. A lot of groups do these things on their own just to be seen so they can say "we did something great today, pat us on the back". But that doesn't ACTUALLY help people. That's what feeding homeless in the Myriad Gardens would be. There are SOOOOOO many options available for you to help feed/clothe the needy in OKC and consolidating those efforts make them far more effective at reaching the target populations. For one thing, because they're static so people know where to go to get them. If you're mobile, people can't find you.

Pan-handlers are a great example of how this type of thing becomes important to put into law. The last study I saw showed that only about 20% of those that beg, actually are needy. I never give money, rather if I'm going to give something, I give the vouchers. It's a free ride to a hot meal. If they throw it down, you know that they weren't that hungry or their goals were not legit.

What I'd REALLY like to see is mental health services provided to those that need it at those shelters so that job placement services can help them get on their feet. If you aren't doing something to SOLVE the problem, you're just enabling it. I don't mean that to sound crappy, but it sort of does. What I mean is, feeding and clothing those in need is important, but I also want to focus on helping those people be able to do things on their own where they don't need to rely on that assistance. Teach a man to fish....

[Stew]

Feeding hungry people. What a f'ing assh@le. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

[bluedogok]

It's about control, nothing else and "control" is non-partisan. Everything that law enforcement and bureaucrats do is about control. They almost always use the vaunted "it's about public safety" line but we all know it isn't. My wife has worked for housing based non-profits almost her whole career except for a short stint with the City of Austin and at the Austin State (mental) Hospital when she was in grad school, she has seen it from both sides. The government is all about control of everything and the bureaucrats just lack any common sense.

[Plutonic Panda]

Feeding hungry people. What a f'ing assh@le. I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.

That's what I'm saying. Can you believe the nerve of that guy!? He's out there feeding less fortunate people and that in no way shape or form affects me, but it still goes on and I am so mad I can't even begin to describe how mad I am.