Yes. But the fact that the law even exists, that the guy got charged, and that the charges didn't get dismissed before this point is extremely concerning. There were multiple points of failure before we even got to this point.
Lawmakers never should have created such a shitty law. Police never had to issue tickets. Prosecutors never had to charge him. The judge could have dismissed the charges as utterly ridiculous. But no, all went through and we had to depend a jury to stop this bullshit.
Also, the article has the quote:
The city of Houston said it will continue to “vigorously pursue violations of its ordinance relating to feeding of the homeless,” according to a statement released to news outlets.
So despite all of this, the city of Houston is determined to still be evil little fucks. People tell me Houston is supposed to be progressive, but I'm not seeing it. Houston folks, what the hell?
Not only does the state increasingly criminalize being un-housed, they are increasingly using their power to harass people who have any empathy and try to make a positive impact on the world for no profit motive. There is big money in helping "the homeless" as long as you don't actually do anything. All facets of government in the U.S. has become a system of graft and corruption. Mr. Smith wouldn't even get the chance to go to Washington because the DNC is just as complicit as the GOP.
This is such a frustrating reminder of how stupid people can be. They’re feeding homeless people in central Houston, and the city received reports of violence and threats against library employees. When they decided to designate a new space to feed these people, the fucking assholes chose a location near a police station.
Like that will work. It was largely rejected, so then they made a law against feeding more than five people without getting permission from the property owners.
I don't understand who you are calling stupid. If the people giving free food to the public received complaints that it was causing reports of violence and threats, wouldn't be logical for them to move the operation to a police station?
“Let’s take a community with a history of mental health issues and a general distrust of law enforcement and require them to get aid next to the police department.”
Aid program dies and is used to justify cutting budgets of stressed aide programs