Posted June 27, 2007
Updated Sept. 22, 2007

Six members of Orlando Food Not Bombs (OFNB) were arrested June 27 in downtown Orlando outside a campaign fund-raiser for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. The six OFNB members, Jonathan Giralt, Ryan Hutchinson, Bryan Jones, Brett Mason, Eric Montanez and Will Vertlieb, were arrested under a City of Orlando noise ordinance. They initially had refused to quit drumming as part of the protest, citing their free speech rights, although at the time of their arrest, none had drummed for at least ten minutes, and only Jones was still holding a drum. Dyer's fund-raiser was in a restaurant located on the bottom floor of The Sanctuary, a downtown condominium complex, located about two blocks from Lake Eola Park where OFNB shares. Through its protest, OFNB was engaging in political speech to counter Dyer's political speech at a location (the restaurant and its adjoining premises, including a public sidewalk and right-of-way) that had been turned into a forum for political speech. The police confiscated some of the drums that had been used as "evidence" and had OPD's Crime Scene Unit take pictures of the protest site and the remaining protestors from OFNB.

Two of OFNB's lawyers met with the adult arrestees at the jail this evening. Bond for five of those arrested was $250.00 each; however, they elected to stay in jail until their first court appearance sometime tomorrow to see if they could be released on their own recognizance. As of this writing, Hutchinson, Jones, Mason and Vertlieb had already been released on their own recognizance, with their arraignments set for July 30. Montanez, because of his previous arrest, was required to post $250.00 bond at his initial court appearance (June 28). Giralt, a juvenile, was released to his parents' recognizance. The charge against Giralt was dropped at his July 27 arraignment.

About 40 people participated in the June 27 protest. It was held to denounce Dyer's policies towards homelessness in Orlando and his support of the City's "large group feedings" ordinance (enacted in July 2006) which, essentially, bans giving away food inside more than three dozen parks in downtown Orlando. Orlando Food Not Bombs has found ways to circumvent the food sharing ban to the extreme displeasure of the Mayor and Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan (the chief proponent of the ordinance) and continues to share inside Lake Eola Park every Wednesday. The ordinance was enacted owing to gentrification and development pressures in Orlando's Thornton Park and Lake Eola Heights neighborhoods.

This was the second Dyer fundraiser at which OFNB had staged a noisy, spirited protest and there is the possibility that June 27's arrests were politically motivated–retaliation for the first anti-Dyer protest through selective enforcement of a city ordinance. The first protest, held on May 16 outside a business only a few hundred yards from where OFNB shares, received considerable media coverage. Hutchinson and Montanez are two of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit filed in October of 2006 against the City over the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. That lawsuit is expected to come to trial in June of 2008. Montanez, on April 4, became the first person arrested under the anti-homeless food sharing ordinance. His trial on that charge will start on Oct. 8. OFNB member Matt Houston was trespassed from Lake Eola Park on May 9 when park rangers called police to break up the group's sharing, although his trespass warning was later rescinded.

OFNB's lawyers are reviewing whether the Orlando police properly applied the ordinance which they used to make the arrests. This incident was covered by WFTV-Channel 9, WKMG-Channel 6 and the Orlando Sentinel.

Note: A pre-trial hearing in the case of the Cruddy Dyer-rhea Drum Corps 5 will be held on Oct. 10. They are being represented by local lawyer Jackie Dowd, who is also one of the counsels representing OFNB in its federal lawsuit against the City of Orlando over its anti-homeless food sharing ordinance.

To contact Orlando Food Not Bombs: orlandofnb@orlandofoodnotbombs.org

To donate to Orlando Food Not Bombs:
make the check payable to Carrot and Fist Collective, Inc.
P.O. Box 540957
Orlando, FL 32854-0957

Booking Photos:

RYAN HUTCHINSON	BRYAN JONES
BRETT MASON	ERIC MONTANEZ
WILL VERTLIEB