Tomatoes Tossed as Police Halt S.F. Food Giveaway

Police in riot gear broke up a food giveaway for the homeless in Golden Gate Park on Monday that turned into a tomato-throwing scuffle, and 53 people were arrested for distributing food without a permit.

It was the second round of arrests in a week for the Food Not Bombs group, which handed out plates of donated rice and beans, bread and raw fruits and vegetables before police stepped in.

About 150 people carrying crates and bags of melons, fresh corn, tomatoes and bagels and chanting “food not bombs,” paraded noisily for several blocks down Haight Street, waving carrots and bananas and banging on pots and drums.

As soon as they set up the food giveaway at the edge of the park, police ordered them to move, then began dragging them off to wagons. Police said the group had not applied for a necessary permit.

During one outburst, television cameraman Hank Schoepp of KPIX-TV was cut on the face by his own camera and suffered a back injury after a policeman grabbed him and threw him to the ground, reporter Ben Williams said.

Williams said he did not know why the incident occurred. Schoepp was sent home, but apparently did not require hospital treatment.

The group, mixed with curious onlookers, quickly swelled to several hundred as dozens of police formed human chains to hold them back and swatted several of the rowdiest with batons.

“Veggies, not violence,” a man shouted. Others yelled at police. The first arrest touched off a round of tomato-throwing that led to more arrests as fruit and vegetables landed on officers.

“We’re not looking for any confrontation. All we’re trying to do is hand out free food,” said Madeline Larsen, 23, of Food Not Bombs.

Larsen, who said she works at Stanford University, said the food group chose Golden Gate Park at the edge of the Haight-Ashbury district for its giveaway site because “that’s where the homeless are.”

Jim Knothe, 39, a homeless man who said he had been sleeping in the bushes for four years, said the giveaway program means “food in my belly.”

Members of Food Not Bombs said they have been distributing free food in San Francisco for months at other locations and they believe that they should not need a permit to feed hungry people in the park. However, police said they were violating a park ordinance.

“It’s illegal to give away food in the park to more than 25 people without a permit,” Sgt. Jerry Senkir said.