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Protester arrested in St. Petersburg, FL, Dec. 22, 2006
WATCH VIDEO       (Video courtesy of Len Schmiege)
Protester arrested at Baywalk, St. Petersburg, FL Dec. 22, 2006St. Petersburg---On Friday, December 22, St. Pete for Peace, Suncoast Peace Education Group, St. Pete Food Not Bombs, and a myriad of other peace and social justice organizations participated in the second in a series of protests hosted by The Refuge. The protests are being held to target the lack of movement around providing shelter and services for St. Pete’s swelling homeless population.

The coalition of groups are demanding, among other things, that the city make several public restroom facilities accessible 24/7. Since public urination is against the law, and since it is unlikely the Starbucks (or any local business in the downtown area), will throw open their bathroom doors to the homeless, it would seem a simple, humane and common-sense solution to one of the more visible complaints about the homeless. Like the other simple, humane and common sense solutions proposed by the coalition, the city has chosen to ignore it.

And, in an ironic twist, a protester was, himself, arrested for attempting to use the public restroom inside the Baywalk shopping plaza. The official charge was trespassing.

The arrested protester had received a trespass warning well over a year ago during St. Pete for Peace’s battle against the city and Sembler Corporation for the use of the public sidewalk in front of Baywalk where their anti-war weekly vigils have been held since the inception of the war in Iraq. It is our understanding that the warning notice expired after a year, and in fact, the individual in question had asked Baywalk Security, over three weeks ago, if he was once again allowed on the premises and was told “yes.”

Since then, he has been allowed in the complex on at least three occasions without incident. Why was December 22nd any different?

One can only speculate, but it must be assumed that the arrest has some connection to the fact that before the event was suspended due to weather conditions, the original plan had been to join the homeless for a sleep-out in front of Sembler’s multi-million dollar mall. It would appear that the city feels more threatened by homeless people than it does by anti-war protesters.

The protester was lead away in handcuffs and placed in a police transport van with one other individual who, earlier in the evening, had tossed a bottle off the second floor balcony of the complex in the general direction of the protest below. He was kept in the transport for several hours, and at one point was told the transport vehicle would not take him to the station so he could be released on bond until it “was full.” It is interesting to note that the place the police chose to park the vehicle, hoping to “fill it”, was next to a homeless encampment near the St. Vincent DePaul soup kitchen.

The protester was released at 5 A.M. this morning.

It would appear that St. Pete’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness should more aptly be called the War on the Homeless. Earlier this week, one homeless sweep resulted in the arrest of seventeen homeless persons, and another sweep was narrowly averted when Refuge volunteers were alerted that the police had arrived at the homeless encampment by St. Vincent’s with a dump truck and a bulldozer. It was deterred by the presence of volunteers with video cameras.

For more info: 727-278-1547, bgcwright@aol.com

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