Don’t stop peace group from feeding the hungry
Following nearly five months of unimpeded Saturday meal shares with West Palm Beach’s homeless population, city police raised the stakes last weekend from threatening enforcement of its newly amended permit requirement to issuing citations to three members of our internationally renowned anti-war group.
Food Not Bombs West Palm Beach has rejected the city’s permit requirement based on its food sharing being a form of First Amendment protected free speech, in line with its opposition to war-for-profit and U.S. militarism. In addition to providing meals, the group also shares literature promoting its anti-statist, anti-capitalist politics. In 2021, Food Not Bombs Fort Lauderdale concluded a seven-year battle with that city which was victorious, largely on the basis of a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that beyond sharing food, FNB is engaged in “expressive conduct.”
The West Palm Beach chapter has shared food with the city’s homeless population in one of two downtown parks for over 16 years, and was in Nancy Graham Centennial Square, its usual location, when the citations were issued. Food Not Bombs WPB chapter members Carly Prinzo, Jacob Robbins and Nicholas Cubides were each issued a citation for not complying with the permit requirement, which took effect at the end of March. The ordinance requires those hosting any food sharing/ public expression event involving 25 people or more must obtain a permit. Another stipulation of the ordinance limits permits to two per location per year, so compliance with the law would effectively terminate the group’s practice of sharing food every Saturday where homeless individuals are known to congregate.
Prinzo called the enforcement “a disgrace to our First Amendment rights and a blatant act of cruelty.” She and the other group members plan on fighting the charges.
Cited along with FNB members was local independent blogger and city government gadfly Sandy Matkivich, publisher of WPB Watch and a friend but not formally a member of the group. The four are due to be arraigned in county court Sept. 26.
Prior to Saturday, police verbally warned the group about sharing food without a permit and issued Prinzo a written warning June 10. While group members have observed continual police surveillance of its weekly practice of compassion and solidarity, the ordinance’s enforcement brings the WPB chapter into territory that FNB groups across the country have become familiar with.
At least four other FNB groups – in Houston, Memphis, Las Vegas and Aberdeen, Wash. – are facing similar threats to their ability to share food and promote solidarity based on principles of direct action and mutual aid. Members of FNB Houston, who’ve received over 50 citations this year, have so far been successful defending against the charges in court.
Jeff Weinberger is a member of Food Not Bombs West Palm Beach.