Between 1-8 June, 12 members of Orlando Food Not Bombs, in Florida US) were arrested for feeding too many homeless people from their stall. A city ordinance forbids feeding homeless people in city parks without a permit or feeding more than 25 at a time with a permit. (Groups are only allowed two permits per year.) The police said FnB had fed more people than the permit allowed. FnB didn’t have a permit because they refuse on principle to apply for one! The penalty for violating the ordinance is 60 days in jail, a $500 fine or both.
On 28 May, three activists were arrested, thrown face-down and had their wrists handcuffed behind their backs for silently dancing in the public area at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC. Earlier in May, the US Court of Appeals had ruled that dancing at memorials is forbidden because it “distracts from the atmosphere of solemn commemoration”.