I've been following this closely since it became a story a couple days ago - it's pretty outrageous. Interesting to note though, that in a discussion with one of the Food Not Bombs founders online, somebody put forth the idea of giving attendees a party hat. Alternatively, they suggested gathering names from the people in need, so they could become part of a "club" (there needn't be anything more than a handwritten name register). Then, if they handed out name tags each time, they could get around the act they were arrested for, on the grounds that it's solely for a club, not the GP. This was the law that they were pulled up on;
Quote:
Trespassing after warning, per violation of city ordinance 16-43(c), which reads “No person shall conduct any activity or utilize any department managed land in a manner which will result in commercial activity, as defined in this chapter, or provide for the distribution or sampling of any materials, merchandise, food, and/or beverages to the general public, without prior written approval from the department.”
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By doing that, it could be stated that it's more of a picnic than a commercial activity for the general public.
Pretty clever if you ask me. A petty trick to get around a foolish imposition.