FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For the second time in four days, 90-year-old activist Arnold Abbott was cited by police for a violating a new city ordinance designed to stop him and others from feeding the homeless in public spaces.
“I expected it,” Abbott said Wednesday after four uniformed officers led him to a squad car and away from a food-laden table at a beachfront city park where he has been ministering to the hungry for more than 23 years.
Many of the homeless and several others on hand to support Abbott began chanting his first name as he walked slowly behind the police. “Shame!” others shouted.
With at least a half-dozen television cameras and dozens of cellphones recording the scene, one of the officers wrote out the citation. “At least this time they let us feed people first,” Abbott said.
On Sunday at downtown’s Stranahan Park, Abbott and two clergymen were cited for violating the ordinance after serving only three or four meals.
Wednesday’s citation was issued at about 6:15 p.m., after Abbott and other volunteers with his Love Thy Neighbor Fund dished up more than 100 plates of hot chicken stew, pasta, cheesy potatoes and fruit salad to homeless men and women.
Many of the homeless who showed up have been coming to South Beach Park for years to dine on the fare Abbott produces at a culinary school he founded.
“It’s the best food I’ve ever had on the street,” said Suzanne Haines Walsh, who has been homeless several months.
The ordinance that the city commission passed in a past-midnight vote Oct. 22 limits where outdoor feeding sites can be located, requires the permission of property owners, and says the groups have to provide portable toilets, hand-washing stations and maintain the food at precisely regulated temperatures.
News reports of Sunday’s incident went viral. Abbott said he has fielded telephone calls and received emails from several continents.
Abbott himself predicted he would be arrested Wednesday for defying the order, and a phalanx of reporters and television crews showed up at the scheduled feeding to watch. “This time I’ll be a scofflaw,” he said.
The four officers stood by passively for about 45 minutes as Abbott and others passed out food.
As the line of homeless began to dwindle, Abbott insisted that several volunteers put down their serving spoons and move away from the food table in hopes that they would not be arrested or cited along with him. They were not.
“They were very gentle,” Abbott said of the officers. “I think they feel a little guilty doing their job.”
If convicted of violating the city ordinance, Abbott could be sentenced to 60 days in jail or be fined $500. He said he was prepared to go to jail, although he wouldn’t like it.
Some in the crowd wondered aloud why city Mayor Jack Seiler did not show up. He, along with some professionals who work with the homeless, contend that feeding people on the street creates a cycle of dependency.
But Abbott said religious conviction drives his street ministry. “Why do I keep doing this?” he said. “Because these are my people and they deserve to be fed.”
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