Houston man ticketed for feeding unhoused found not guilty
The Food Not Bombs volunteer was ticketed for feeding the homeless outside a Houston public library in March.
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Houston man ticketed for feeding unhoused found not guilty
The Food Not Bombs volunteer was ticketed for feeding the homeless outside a Houston public library in March.
By Michael MurneyAug 1, 2023
Phillip Picone and Shere Dore fist bump after Picone is found not guilty for violating a Houston ordinance against giving free meals without permission from the property where you?re doing it. Volunteers with the organization Food Not Bombs have wracked up over three dozen tickets for providing meals outside of the public library downtown.
R.A. Schuetz
A volunteer with Food Not Bombs who was ticketed by Houston police for feeding the unhoused outside the downtown public library was found not guilty in a criminal court on Sunday.
Phillip Picone was handing out food to unhoused people with fellow Food Not Bombs volunteers at the corner of McKinney and Smith Streets in downtown Houston on March 6 when trouble began. Food Not Bombs had served meals to unhoused people at that same corner four nights a week for the past twenty years, even asthe
Houston police had started handing out tickets for allegedly violating a city ordinance against giving unhoused people food in the downtown area, per FOX 26.
Picone received a criminal citation for allegedly violating the ordinance that evening after police allegedly told Food Not Bombs to move their operations to 61 Riesner Street, the home of HPD's former headquarters.
Last Friday, a jury unanimously found Picone "not guilty" of the violation, according to FOX 26. "This law that the city has passed is absurd. It criminalizes the Samaritan for giving,” said Picone's trial lawyer Paul Kubosh after the verdict.
Houston officials struck a defiant tone in a statement issued after the hearing: "The City of Houston intends to vigorously pursue violations of its ordinance relating to the feeding of the homeless. It is a health and safety issue for protecting Houston’s residents," said Houston city attorney Arturo Michel, according to KPRC 2. "There have been complaints and incidents regarding the congregation of the homeless around the library, even during off hours. No municipality prevails in every prosecution of a category of violations."
Picone's is the first of several court battles Food Not Bombs volunteers will be facing in months to come: per the Houston Chronicle's R.A. Scheutz, Food Not Bombs has received 45 tickets as of Picone's hearing for continuing to serve food outside the library.
