A volunteer with the group Food Not Bombs Midlands (FNBM) was cited Sept. 26 for an alleged sidewalk obstruction while delivering meals. FNBM is a mutual aid group that brings hot meals to the unhoused community four times per week—they work primarily from Columbia.
Matt Cox, a handyman by trade, is a regular volunteer with the organization. While distributing food on that Saturday in front of the Richland Library Main, a site Cox says the organization has used "for a couple of years," to distribute food, Cox says he was the sole volunteer ticketed. The group usually sets up on the street side of the sidewalk along Hampton Street, close to the cars and away from the sidewalk pylons, according to Cox.
"We had the lowest [turnout] I ever saw on the day I was ticketed," says Cox. He says FNBM were only able to feed around 20 people—down from the group's usual 60 to 80 headcount, "I was the only person ticketed, so it was a congregation of one, according to the citation."
According to a social media post by FNBM, officers with the City of Columbia Police Department used municipal code 22-72 as justification. The code says "all persons are forbidden from congregating and obstructing the sidewalks or streets in front of churches, hotels, business places, and other buildings of public resort within the corporate limits of the city."
Cox says this is not the first time he's heard of this code. He alleges a precursor incident occurred on Aug. 1. He says after waiting for 15 to 20 minutes, a police officer asking to speak to the group's spokesperson told him that the group was in violation of municipal codes 22-71 through 22-74; a series of codes making it unlawful to "create or allow" an obstruction of any street in the city of Columbia without city council's consent, prohibiting barrels or boxes with any article of merchandise that obstruct a sidewalk, and blocking pedestrian access without City Council's consent.
Both FNBM and Cox say the First Amendment, which includes the language "the right of the people peaceably to assemble," protects the work they do. "If we can't do it in public, the the First Amendment doesn't mean anything," Cox said, "We've been kicked out of Finlay Park, we've been kicked out of Memorial Park, and they're trying to kick us out of the library. [We] can't [give] up our right to organize in public spaces."
He says police have allegedly previously suggested finding a private organization that would host FNBM on their property, Cox says "that would be nice, [but] the fact is they could take that away at any point. There's a reason that there's a constitutional right to peaceable assembly because we shouldn't have to go begging."
Richland Library Main declined an interview. However, a representative provided a written statement, saying, "Food and snacks are not permitted outside of designated areas at any Richland Library location. Exceptions include food items purchased and eaten in the Cafe at Richland Library Main and light refreshments permitted in large meeting rooms after paying the subsequent fee outlined in the Library's Meeting Room Policy. Additionally, drinks with lids are permitted in the Library. The City of Columbia has designated Hope Plaza as a community space to provide services to neighbors facing food insecurity."
Cox says the library was chosen as FNBM's food distribution site to meet the unhoused population where they were.
"They congregate at the library is because it's one of the few public buildings left with no questions asked," he says. "You can walk in, you can use the bathroom, you can sit in the couch, you can get a drink of water, you know, and that's about as far as it goes. You can use the computer or get entertainment from the [books]. It's one of the last places they can go and they're being driven out of it."
Speaking to WIS News in Columbia, the City of Columbia's Police Department's Deputy Chief Melron Kelly said, "We’re not saying don’t feed people. That is not our message. Our message is let’s do this together in a manner that’s safe and prudent for all people. Our capstone of this is maintaining safety in the community. Whether it’s a roadway being blocked or a sidewalk, we don’t want those things to happen."
FNBM does not hold a permit to distribute food. The group has nonprofit status but prefers to operate informally, according to Cox, without a formal structure for its meal distributions.
"I'm not aware of groups like ours getting permits," he says, "[It's] right in the name, [permission]. And if someone can give you permission, someone can deny you permission. [This] isn't like [something] nice that you can have as a treat. It is a right guaranteed by the highest law of the land."
He says the organization previously submitted a FOIA request from the police department on possible complaints, "the complaints are always coming from the library. It might be initiated by a patron who then takes it to the security, who then takes it to the police. But the police get it from the library. They don't get it from the public."
"One of the things [the police] told us about why the library wants everyone to move on is that recently there [was] a fatal altercation between two of the folks that we serve," Cox says. He says the day of the alleged altercation was not on a food distribution day for FNBM (Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday). "Saying that we've had someone die here, so we want you to leave and not feed them, well, what stresses people out more than not getting food?"
FNBM says the meals for the unhoused will continue, "we are committed to continuing to serve our primary mission of providing meals at the days and times that the community expects us."
Cox says he will continue to volunteer and plans to contest the citation.
