Florida Civil Rights Association (FCRA) on Tuesday wrote to Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer requesting that he formally apologizes for referring to members of the Orlando Food Not Bombs as, “food terrorists”. The letter, signed by the President of FCRA, J. Willie David III, also asks Dyer to clarify his remarks wherein he compares the group’s members to “terrorists”.
“Mayor Dyer in this day and age responsible elected officials should not call political dissidents any form of terrorists, especially where there is no evidence to support such a claim”, David’s letter stated.
Over the last few weeks, Orlando police have arrested several members of Orlando Food Not Bombs group for distributing food to the homeless at Lake Eola Park without a permit, in violation of a City Ordinance. The group has already utilized the two permits granted annually to distribute food to large groups at the Park.
The food group, which has had a long-running battle with the City of Orlando dating back to 2006, has challenged the Ordinance saying it violates their first amendment rights and is “anti-homeless.”
After several of the group’s members were arrested for violating the Ordinance, Dyer referred to its members as “food terrorists.”
“Mayor Dyer your remarks were wrong, unacceptable and brought unnecessary local and national news attention to our city and you should be ashamed”, David stated.
David’s letter called on the City to reconsider the policy of banning feeding of the homeless at Lake Eola Park.
In April earlier this year, a federal appeals court upheld the Ordinance that bans large group feeding without a permit, after the City appealed a federal judge’s ruling in September 2008, which sided with the local group.
