Houston Police Fine Volunteers for Feeding Homeless; Food Not Bombs Now Disputing 44 Tickets

The Houston Police Department penalized Food Not Bombs volunteers for feeding the homeless. If the volunteers are proven guilty, everyone who received the tickets could owe Houston over $80,000.

Houston Police Fines Volunteers for Feeding Homeless

(Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) A homeless man sleeps under an American Flag blanket on a park bench on September 10, 2013, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. As of June 2013, there was an all-time record of 50,900 homeless people, including 12,100 homeless families with 21,300 homeless children homeless in New York City.

According to The Guardian's latest report, the Houston Police Department issued 44 tickets to Food Not Bombs volunteers who have been feeding homeless people in the metropolis since 1994.

Authorities said that these members are giving meals to unhoused people outside the Houston Public Library.

Because of this, they issued 44 tickets to them. Each of the included Food Not Bombs members could face a maximum penalty of $2,000.

When their penalties are combined, they could all face more than $80,000. The fines issued by the police were made based on the city ordinance that was passed way back in 2012.

This ordinance requires that organizations and groups must have permission from the property owners, as well as public properties before they can provide free food to more than five people in the areas.

But, many people criticize this law. A petition to revoke the ordinance was even submitted to the Houston city council in 2015.

FNB Volunteer Sues Houston City

(Photo: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) A man walks his dog past a homeless man sleeping under a message painted on a boarded-up shop in San Francisco, California on April 1, 2020, during the novel coronavirus outbreak. - The US death toll from the coronavirus pandemic topped 5,000 late on April 1, according to a running tally from Johns Hopkins University.

USA Today reported that a social justice volunteer was found not guilty by a jury on Friday, Aug. 4.

After this victory, 66-year-old Food Not Bombs member Phillip Picone decided to file a federal lawsuit against Houston.

In his complaint, the man explained that the anti-food-sharing law of the city violates the freedom of expression and freedom of religion of those who are trying to feed homeless people.

Picone's attorney, Randall Kallinen, filed the federal lawsuit against the city on behalf of the FNB volunteer.

"If you were to look in the Catholic bible or any bible, you'd see many references to feeding the hungry and feeding the poor," he argued.

Kallinen added that Picone and other Food Not Bombs members also provide free meals to working poor people, who are usually making minimum wages for the past years.

As of writing, Picone and other FNB members are still trying to revoke the anti-food-sharing law of the Houston city. If you want to learn more about what they are fighting for, you can click here.