A Flagstaff police officer confronts members of Food Not Bombs on Nov. 14 at Wheeler Park. Ben Weitzenkorn / The Lumberjack

Flagstaff Police gave five citations over recent weeks to people associated with the local chapter of Food Not Bombs (FNB). In response, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona (ACLU) sent a letter to the city concerning the citations.

FNB serves free food at Wheeler Park every Saturday at noon. They drape a banner that reads “Food Not Bombs” over the wall near the war memorial at the side of the park. Since the end of September, the police have come on several occasions to remove the banner. Twice, individuals received tickets for violating section 6-06-001-0008 of the city code, which makes it illegal to post handbills on public property.
Russell Crawford received a citation on Oct. 3 for hanging the banner, making him the first FNB activist to face prosecution. Officers on the scene informed Crawford he would receive a citation for posting signs without a permit, and the sign would be entered as evidence of the violation.

“I got issued a citation for a banner that wasn’t even mine,” Crawford said. “For what we’re doing, why can’t we use the park?”

On Nov. 14, four more people were charged in association with FNB for violating the city code. The arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 18.

The ACLU sent a letter on Nov. 9 to City Attorney Patricia Boomsma, Mayor Sara Presler and Chief of Police Brent Cooper. The letter explained that police actions
“illustrate the threat that a vague and undefined permit requirement poses to fundamental rights of expression of
persons and groups.”

The ACLU also said in the letter to the city, “The ACLU would take steps to invalidate this permit scheme and end the constitutional harms to FNB.”

Attorney Lee Phillips is providing legal help for the group.

“We anticipated the city would send a response,” Phillips said. “And we didn’t expect more people to get cited.”

FNB believes they should be able to serve food without a permit for the banner. Ashley Towne, an FNB activist, said the police officers’ actions violate human rights.

“It’s free speech; we are exempt from needing a permit,” Towne said. “We’ve been unable to show we’re exempt. I asked one officer if we had a ‘happy birthday’ banner hanging would you ask us to take that down too? And he said he would.”

Flagstaff police remove a Food Not Bombs banner from Wheeler park. The organization cooks vegetarian food and serve it to those in need on Saturday afternoons. Ben Weitzenkorn / The Lumberjack

Boomsma, Presler and officials at the police department declined to comment due to the ongoing nature of the litigation. On Oct. 3, a member of the veterans’ organization American Legion (whose establishment is across the street from Wheeler park) reported being offended by FNB’s banner. He promptly had a hostess inside call the police. Officer Rebecca Kiener responded to a report of juveniles posting a sign on the memorial.

The picnic tables at Wheeler Park had been removed from the premises due to unrelated vandalism, forcing Food Not Bombs to move their gatherings, including their banner, to the area near the war memorial.

Kiener filed a police report which said, “[The banner] was affixed firmly with food containers. When the wind blew, the sign blew with the wind but did not move from the wall.”
According to the police report, the man who called the officer spoke with the mayor and was advised that if the incident was disturbing, then he could file a complaint.

The man then told the responding officer the sign “raises his blood pressure and is extremely disturbing to him and his family.”

But according to FNB, neither the complaint nor the lack of a permit gives the city the right to stop the organization from hanging its banner. FNB said their First Amendment rights supersede the city code. No one admitted responsibility for the banner on any of the occasions, and the officer removed the banner each time because there was no permit.

Aaron Levy, one of the four FNB activists cited on Nov. 14, said law enforcement will not stop Food Not Bombs from hanging their banner.

“Our intention is not to leave the banner there,“ Levy said. “We’re going to clean up and take it home with us unless the cops take it first.”

FNB members said they maintain their political message that people should be able to feed the community without having to receive a permit for a banner.

“The spirit of the matter is that we have a right to do it,” Levy said. “And we’re going to do it.”