[Onthebarricades] US: A Statement from Orlando Food Not Bombs (fwd)

[Andy]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: reporter2 at mpinet.net 
To: florida_a at yahoogroups.com 
Cc: smygo at yahoogroups.com ; orlandogreens at yahoogroups.com ; stop-orlando at yahoogroups.com ; copwatch-orlando at lists.riseup.net ; discusscampuspeaceaction at googlegroups.com ; march-19th-commission at googlegroups.com ; EastOrlandoFNB at googlegroups.com ; mds-cf_discuss at lists.riseup.net 
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 7:08 PM
Subject: [smygo] A Statement from Orlando Food Not Bombs


A STATEMENT FROM ORLANDO FOOD NOT BOMBS ON THE ARRESTS OF OUR SIX COMRADES
ON. JUNE 27, 2007

Issued July 5, 2007

Orlando Food Not Bombs denounces the arrests of our friends and
comrades--Jonathan Giralt, Ryan Hutchinson, Bryan Jones, Brett Mason, Eric
Montanez, and Will Vertlieb--during a protest against Mayor Buddy Dyer on
Wed., June 27. Our protest criticized the Mayor's policies toward the
homeless, which are punitive, discriminatory, inhumane and inadequate to
address the problems of homelessness in our community, and his support for
the "large group feedings" ordinance that attempts to ban groups such as
Orlando Food Not Bombs from sharing food in downtown parks.

Despite attempts to portray us as unruly and uncouth, our actions--holding
signs and banners, chanting and drumming-- were fully in keeping with the
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows citizens to
peacefully assemble and use their free speech rights in a multitude of ways
to express opposition to government policies and public officials. Protests
such as ours have a long historical pedigree in America and have been used
to advocate such issues as civil rights for African Americans, equal rights
for gays and lesbians, ending apartheid in South Africa, voting rights and
equality for women, and ending senseless wars.

Despite the arrests, we feel our protest was a success. We succeeded in
conveying our message in the ways that we wanted to convey it and we put
Mayor Dyer and his supporters on notice that we will hold them accountable
for oppressive and unjust public policies.

Mayor Dyer held his event in a restaurant, Graze, located at the bottom of
one of the condominium towers that have sprouted in Thornton Park in recent
years, as part of the trend of gentrification and redevelopment in that
neighborhood. By hosting his fundraiser, the restaurant allowed itself to
be transformed into a political forum for Dyer. Neither its owner, nor the
Mayor, the restaurant's patrons and the condominium residents should have
been surprised or disturbed that those who oppose the Dyer administration's
policies would use their right to engage in political speech, using written
and oral language and playing musical instruments, to passionately express
our point of view.

Our protest was what debate, dissent and democracy are supposed to look
like. Free speech does not have to be meek, mild and submissive; indeed it
often needs to be bold and assertive, even provocative and offensive,
especially when it is hammering away at authoritarian measures formulated
by the powerful for the benefit of the affluent.

It is interesting to note that the Orlando police did not measure the
decibel level of our drummers. They arbitrarily decided that they were too
loud and disturbing and arrested them. Nor, despite police claims to the
contrary, did any of the drummers receive any warning directly from the
police to cease drumming before their arrests. In fact, all the drummers
had quit drumming of their own accord at least 10 minutes before being
arrested, and, of the six individuals arrested, only one actually was
holding a drum at the time of his arrest.

We also categorically deny that any of our chants contained profanity,
another false claim by the Orlando police. For the record. here are the
chants that we were using on June 27: "No Justice - No Peace - When People
Cannot Eat - FOR FREE!"; "Serve Rice - Not the Rich"; "Whose Buddy? - NOT
OURS!"; "Food Is a Right - Not a Privilege"; and "Muddy Dyer-rhea - What's
the Idea?"

These arrests for allegedly violating a City noise ordinance were
politically motivated revenge--selective law enforcement instigated by
Mayor Dyer to advance his agenda, which includes trying to shut down
Orlando Food Not Bombs in every way possible. We know that Mayor Dyer takes
our continued resistance to his heartless policies on homelessness and his
support for the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance as a personal affront
and that he was angered by the successful protest that we held at his May
16 Thornton Park fundraiser. That action, which received considerable media
coverage, helped to bring the issues of homelessness and constitutional
rights to the forefront of social and political awareness in Central
Florida. It also made the Mayor a greater enemy to us than he had been
previously, since our actions interfered with his desire to sail through
the re-election process with little or no criticism, fuss, embarassment or
negative publicity.

If Mayor Dyer, Commissioner Patty Sheehan (one of the strongest proponents
of the food-sharing ordinance) and other public officials think that these
arrests will cause Orlando Food Not Bombs to quit resisting their policies
and will deter us from exercising our First Amendment rights, they are dead
wrong.

Between now and Election Day (Jan. 29, 2008), we will be a non-violent but
boisterous presence at any campaign event organized by Dyer, Sheehan and
any other Orlando official or candidate who supports the "large group
feedings" ordinance and other measures that criminalize homelessness. We,
along with our allies from the community, will continue to share food every
Wednesday inside the Lake Eola Park picnic area, as we have done for the
last two years.

We will not abdicate our civil liberties, our autonomy and our need to act
according to the dictates of our consciences in order to advance the
agendas of venal politicians such as Dyer and the special interests, such
as developers and businesses, that they represent. Nor will we acquiesce to
policies that deny human rights and dignity to low-income and homeless
people and that institute discrimination against them based upon their
socio-economic status. We will dare to struggle and we will dare to win.

Orlando Food Not Bombs:
http://orlandofoodnotbombs.org

Contact us: orlandofnb at orlandofoodnotbombs.org


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