Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Arrested For Feeding The Homeless: Ministers, 90-Year-Old Man Nabbed In Fort Lauderdale Beach

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 90-year-old man and two ministers have been accused of breaking a new ordinance that severely restricts public feeding of the homeless.

Police arrested homeless advocate Arnold Abbot and ministers Dwayne Black and Mark Sims on Sunday as they handed out food to homeless people in a Fort Lauderdale park. The city ordinance took effect Friday.

"One of the police officers said, 'Drop that plate right now,' as if I were carrying a weapon,'' Abbott told South Florida television station WPLG. "It's man's inhumanity to man is all it is.''

All three face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Abbott runs a non-profit group called Love Thy Neighbor, Inc. He said he sued the city in 1999 after they tried to stop him from feeding the homeless on Fort Lauderdale Beach. He won that case and now says he'll fight the new ordinance.

"These are the poorest of the poor,'' Abbott said. "They have nothing. They don't have a roof over their heads. How do you turn them away?''

He planned to feed the homeless Wednesday evening on Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Original Article
Source: huffingtonpost.ca/
Author: AP

No comments:

Post a Comment