Freedom is not just for clean cut people in suits. Do you folks support freedom or not. You people have a problem with the needy being helped by private citizens? I am a bit confused.
You people? It’s us people :’)
If you feel the need to help, them by all means invite them to your house. But commandeer a bit of municipal property, turn it into a defacto mission center but without any semblance of control or supervision and don’t be surprised if the city is forced to take action. It got really, really bad there.
Let me briefly play devil's advocate for the nanny-state.
This isn't a clear-cut "freedom" issue. The ordinance at issue covers city property, and doesn't completely prohibit feeding the homeless. It only prohibits doing so without a permit.
A city should be able to put reasonable restrictions on the use of public property. I'm not so sure that requiring a permit before hosting a large gathering on public property is "unreasonable". Now the *conditions* required for granting a permit are another matter. Likewise, this would be a different situation if he was trying to feed people on private property, like in a church. But I don't think requiring a permit for large groups using city property is per se unreasonable or an unacceptable intrusion on a citizen's liberty.
That being said, I agree that this guy's appearance is completely irrelevant. Same with his (presumably) goofy political beliefs. If this guy had been sporting a crew cut and a pair of dockers, and did the *exact* same thing as part of a church group, I think most people here would be defending him.