In the 1980's and early 90's the Rev. George Crossley Jr. was among the “Who's Who” of the Christian Right in Orlando FL. He was sought after by conservative politicians for his ability to bring the followers of his TV and radio talk shows into the streets for protests against abortion clinics, sex education in schools, adult bookstores, gay rights, and even rock concerts. He led the boycott of the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando which resulted in blocking Martin Scorsese’s film “The Last Temptation of Christ” from being shown in Central Florida movie theaters.

The Rev. Crossley’s career as a paragon of conservative virtues came to an abrupt end on July 3rd 1996 when he was arrested for attempted murder. Ultimately he was convicted of trying to hire a hit man to kill the husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair and was sent to prison for 41 months.

After his release from prison, George Crossley returned to the airwaves as the host of “The People Power Hour” on the radio, and returned to politics by becoming the chapter chair of the Central FL ACLU.

In July of 2006 the City of Orlando passed the Large Group Feeding ordinance in an attempt to stop Orlando Food Not Bombs from continuing their ongoing protests at the landmark Lake Eola Park in the middle of downtown. Orlando Food Not Bombs conducts weekly protests by sharing food with the homeless and the working poor in public parks to call attention to society’s failure to provide food and shelter to all of it’s members.

When Orlando Food Not Bombs came to him for help in fighting the City’s ordinance George Crossley got both the local and state levels of the ACLU to support a Federal court fight. That court battle not only overturned the City's ordinance, but also set a First Amendment precedent when the judge ruled that Food Not Bombs' protests were “expressive conduct” and thus protected as free speech.

P.S. That was the state of affairs as of 2009 when I completed shooting the film. Since then, The City of Orlando has spent over $40,000 to appeal the verdict of the trial to the 11th Circuit Court and on July 6 2010 a three judge panel overturned the lower court’s decision.

  On July 7 2010 Food Not Bombs requested that the full panel of judges of the 11th Circuit Court rehear the case, a rare judicial “do over” granted only to about 75 cases a year out of the average 27,000 annual federal appeals court cases.

  On August 31 2010 the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the July ruling of the three judge panel and granted Orlando Food Not Bombs a new hearing in front of the full panel of judges. You can see an exclusive interview I shot with Jackie Dowd of Legal Advocacy at Work discussing this turn of events here.

  On September 9 2010 George Crossley Jr. passed away. You can see him talk about his motivation for his life as an  activist in a clip from the film here.

  Stay tuned for further developments in the case that he helped to set in motion.

  UPDATED 4/15/2011: On April 12 2011, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued their decision in the case of Food Not Bombs versus the City of Orlando. On April 13, 2011, I interviewed Food Not Bombs attorney, Jackie Dowd of Legal Advocacy at Work, at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando, to get her reaction to that ruling. Watch the video here

  UPDATED 6/16/11 After the Appeals Court ruled that even though Orlando Food Not Bombs protest food sharings were expressive conduct and entitled to 1st Amendment protection, the City of Orlando still had the right to regulate the time and place of their free speech rights, the City was free to once again enforce the Large Group Feeding Ordinance.

Orlando Food Not Bombs decided to commit peaceful civil disobedience and violate the Ordinance because they believed it to be unjust despite the ruling of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. They refused to apply for permits as required under the Ordinance and continue to conduct their protest food sharings on Mondays and Wednesdays in Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando.

Starting on June 1, and continuing through to the 6/15/11 feeding, the Orlando Police department has arrested those sharing food and then issued a trespass warning to them so that they can’t return to the park for one year. So far 21 people, including Keith McHenry co founder of the Food Not bombs movement, have been arrested for violating the Large Group Feeding Ordinance and trespassed from the park.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has called Food Not Bombs “food terrorists” in an interview with Scott Maxwell in the Orlando Sentinel.

Orlando Food Not Bombs has vowed to continue their protest food sharings and has issued  a list of demands.

--That Mayor Buddy Dyer declare a moratorium on enforcement of the anti-food sharing ordinance

--That Mayor Buddy Dyer meet with Orlando Food Not Bombs and other anti-poverty activists to initiate dialogue on issues of hunger and poverty in our community

--That Mayor Buddy Dyer changes his policy of criminalizing poverty and focuses on addressing the root causes of poverty in our community--the abundance of low-wage jobs and the lack of affordable housing and social services

--That charges be dropped against all those arrested under the ordinance

--That the trespass warnings for Lake Eola Park issued to those arrested be rescinded.

On June 16 2011 Shayan Elahi attorney for Orlando Food Not Bombs held a press conference to announce that Mayor Dyer may have violated an executive order by Chief Judge Perry mandating that violations of city ordinances should be dealt with by issuing Summons to Appear rather than arrests.

To learn more about Food Not Bombs or to make a donation to support their food sharing visit Orlando Food Not Bombs.

To learn more or to make a donation, please visit the ACLU

Please visit Legal Advocacy at Work.