Houston Man Ticketed For Feeding Homeless
Houston man ticketed by police for feeding homeless people outside a public library, causing outrage from a charitable group and plans to challenge a city ordinance. Enacted in 2012, the regulation requires groups to get permission from property owners if they feed more than five people, but it wasn’t enforced until recently. Food Not Bombs, a group that has provided meals outside the Houston Public Library for decades, received a notice from the city warning that police would start issuing citations. The first citation came Wednesday night.
Mayor Sylvester Turner had urged the group to relocate, saying that he wanted to make the downtown central library more family-friendly. The mayor’s office said distributing free food at the library is no longer allowed under updated regulations for charitable food service events on public property. However, Food Not Bombs members are willing to discuss alternatives and hope to prevail in court.
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Nick Cooper, a volunteer with Food Not Bombs, said that the approved location close to a police station isn’t ideal. He also stated that the law is not going to stand in court, and a similar case was won by a Food Not Bombs chapter in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In the meantime, the Houston man ticketed for feeding the homeless has given the group the opportunity to challenge the ordinance.
The City of Houston supports and is grateful for the charitable food services provided throughout the city, the statement said. The group’s supporters believe that providing food to those in need is a basic human right and a moral obligation. The Houston man’s citation has sparked an outcry on social media, with many questioning the city’s priorities and policies regarding homelessness.
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