Press release: Police arrest 2 Food Not Bombs SF food servers on
Tom Boland (wgcp@earthlink.net)
Tue, 2 Nov 1999 00:07:35 -0800 (PST)
please circulate this post
PRESS RELEASE
FWD Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 23:28:48 -0800
From: Sasha Vodnik <sashav@sfsu.edu>
Subject: Press release: Police arrest 2 FNB volunteers on 11/1/99
Sender: worker-fnb-l@lists.tao.ca
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 1 November 1999
Press Contacts: Sasha Vodnik (415) 567-4014
Food Not Bombs (415) 675-9928
E-Mail: sffnb@iww.org
San Francisco (Monday, 11/1/99)
At approximately 6:00 PM, two volunteers with the group Food Not Bombs
were arrested while distributing hot soup and bread to hungry people at
United Nations Plaza in San Francisco’s Civic Center. Those arrested
included Sister Bernie Galvin, a Catholic nun and coordinator of the
group Religious Witness with Homeless People. After arresting the
servers, police also impounded the food, blocking access to food for
those who hadn’t yet eaten.
Tonight’s arrests increase to 13 the number of Food Not Bombs volunteers
arrested since October 20, 1999, when the most recent wave of arrests
began.
Food Not Bombs (FNB) is a non-violent direct action group that shares
free food with hungry people around the world. FNB groups collect
donated food and prepare meals in volunteers' kitchens. The meals are
shared in public spaces to draw attention to the crisis of homelessness,
and to create a community meal in a non-institutionalized setting. Our
name highlights the fact that people worldwide go hungry, including in
the United States, while an enormous amount of money and resources are
devoted to military use.
In San Francisco, Food Not Bombs has a long history of police harassment
and political repression from the City government. San Francisco FNB
has shared hundreds of thousands of vegetarian meals with hungry people
since 1988, while simultaneously creating a community forum to talk
about the roots of and solutions to our society’s economic disparities
and rocketing incarceration rates. Over the years we have been arrested
at least 1,000 times. In the 1995 Mayoral elections, the eventual
winner, Willie Brown, promised voters that he would cease arresting FNB
members. Homelessness is a central issue in today’s mayoral election;
with this increasing harassment, Mayor Brown is demonstrating his
approach.
Food Not Bombs is continuing to build community support to end the
political harassment of those who support the homeless community, and to
make criminalization of poor people unacceptable. FNB will not reduce
or restrict our servings, and we will not compromise our advocacy of the
people who are under constant attack by the government of San Francisco.
***30***
vegetarian, nonviolence, consensus
-Food Not Bombs List fnb-l@lists.tao.ca
-distributing food in opposition to violence
-archive: http://archive.foodnotbombs.ca
-active cities: http://webcom.com/peace
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END FORWARD
<sffnb@iww.org> Signature File Of Thursday 17 September 1998
Communications from this e-mail address <sffnb@iww.org> DO NOT necessarily
reflect views of the San Francisco Food Not Bombs organization, unless it
is otherwise indicated. The information content and opinions expressed in
this communication are from individual members, allies and affiliates of
San Francisco Food Not Bombs.
San Francisco Food Not Bombs
P.O. Box 40485
San Francisco, California 94140
USA
Phone: + 1-415-675-9928
E-Mail: < sffnb@iww.org >
Web Page: < http://www.foodnotbombs.org >
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