By Matt Agorist
Tampa, FL — When feeding willing hungry people becomes illegal, that is a telling sign of a bureaucratic police state. And, in the ostensible Land of the Free, the enforcers of such arbitrary and cruel laws have no problem kidnapping and locking people in a cage for helping those in need. In fact, it happens on a regular basis.
The most recent case of police cracking down on caring people who dared to give organic rice and beans to the hungry happened over the weekend in Tampa.
Members of the charitable group Food Not Bombs gathered Saturday afternoon to hand out hot coffee and bagels to Tampa’s homeless community. However, their good deed was thwarted by police who quickly arrested seven of the people serving the food and one homeless man who dared grab a bagel from the table after cops ordered everyone to stop eating.
The entire horrendous deprivation of liberty was streamed live to Facebook by Erin Sauer. It’s nothing short of infuriatingly asinine.
Why would a dozen cops descend on a group of volunteers donating their own food to willing people who need it? Well, Food not Bombs failed to pay the extortion fee to the city in the form of a permit.
Food not Bombs is not some fly-by-night charity looking to rustle feathers by ‘illegally’ distributing food the homeless. The group sets up to feed the homeless at least twice a week — so obtaining a permit and purchasing the city-required insurance policy is too pricey to be sustainable.
When kind-hearted people don’t have a limitless supply of money to grease the statist skids and pay their extortion fees to remove all the red tape — they become outlaws.
Credit: Anthony Martino
The good news is that the group is made up of brave people who are unafraid to disobey unjust laws. In an email to CL Tampa, a spokesperson for the group noted that Food not Bombs “has no plans to stop sharing food with the homeless and hungry and will continue to defy unjust laws that criminalize compassion and mutual aid.”
Unfortunately, in the land of the free, feeding the homeless has become a revolutionary act. Cities across the country are cracking down on good people like those at Food not Bombs who simply want to feed the needy.
Last December, the Dallas, Texas city council enacted Ordinance No. 29595, which makes it illegal to serve food to the homeless without jumping through a statist myriad of bureaucratic hoops, including a fee, training classes, and written notices.
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However, the folks over at the aptly named organization Don’t Comply acted in a similarly brave manner as Food not Bombs, and took to the streets just outside the Austin Street Shelter in Dallas. However, the members of Don’t Comply had guns. They were not shut down and the group successfully fed thousands of homeless people.
“We intend to expose the city’s cruelty in the face of thousands in our community who are struggling with issues of food insecurity, mental and medical health issues, poverty, and homelessness,” a spokesperson for Food not Bombs said in an email according to CL Tampa. “If the city will not address these problems, the least they can do is not get in the way and stop others from addressing these needs. Compassion should never be criminalized.
Matt Agorist is the co-founder of TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared. He is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist. and now on Steemit
Demand jury trial & nullify
This is a huge part of the answer. People have no idea the power they really have…
Unfortunately, many infractions for which citations are issued (including traffic tickets in many places) are no longer permitted a jury trial. Convenient that, isn’t it? And in some places, you have to pay a bond before you can even request a trial.
Rings bell once. Shame. Rings bell. Shame. Rings bell. Shame. Repeat….
spot on
We the people are waking up. Let the light of truth shine bright this year!
Giving food to the needy is an extremely worthwhile cause; how is it even POSSIBLE that these criminals in the government could have stuck their Godless noses into this?
It has nothing to do with “godlessness.” Most of the law and order idiots in line behind the gestapo are alleged “Christians.”
One has to wonder what kind of “people” would “just do their jobs” to go out and arrest people for feeding the poor. One day, the history of this country will make the Nuremburg trials look like an account of a Sunday picnic. Despicable.
There will always be a ready supply of narcissists and sociopaths to fill the Police force to overflowing. These people (AKA monsters in uniforms) actually get off on what they’re doing. If you could see inside their heads your blood would run cold!
No wonder police are seeing their pension funds evaporate towards zero. They are receiving the fruits of what they do to others daily. Don’t take damnation into your spirit by doing anything for anyone in any police occupation. Pray that their houses all get termites and they don’t know till major damage is done.
The idiot voters that put the Republicans in office who are doing this have to take some of the blame.
I’d be willing to bet that the city has defined “serving” food as a commercial activity. There is nothing commercial about feeding the hungry at no charge. This may seem like a fine point to some who are not yet familiar with the word treachery of tyrants. Now watch Tampa try to cut a deal where they lower the cost of permits for charitable work. It’s all about forcing us to consent by signing their contract, aka permit application. They re-name us and our activities so they can send their goons with guns in to enforce their authority. Tampa will keep at it until it becomes normalized or a mass of people go to council meetings demanding enforcement be stopped–that these tyrants are committing treason against the people by using force to violate the basic human right to eat in order to stay alive.
All “permits” and “licenses” forced upon us are BILLS OF ATTAINDER. Completely outlawed by every state constitution and our national constitution. Liberty is lost by those unwilling to fight for it… assuming one even cares about it. And I don’t mean simply “fighting” in courts run by control freaks and parasites. Why did the Founders put the part about a WELL REGULATED MILITIA in the 2nd Amendment?
They shouldn’t be upset with the police, they should attend Tampa city council meetings and tell them what they think!
no archie. WE SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY UPSET WITH THE POLICE. They are not hired to be “flying monkeys” who salivate when a witch tells them to attack and seize. They are hired to PROTECT OUR RIGHTS, not violate them. I have a RIGHT to feed anyone I want… it’s not some act for which I need to ask permission, from ANYONE. The Oath a police officer or deputy takes is to the Constitution, NOT SOME STUPID CITY COUNCIL OR MAYOR… or COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. In a righteous nation, the cops would be arresting the city councilmen of Tampa right now.
Good points but unfortunately like the military, the police take orders from the civilian authorities.