Organizations distributing food to homeless individuals in downtown Dallas say the city’s crackdown is persisting as the World Cup winds down.
As morning temperatures sat in the low 90s Sunday, organizers for Sandwich Sundays moved their twice-monthly street feeding from behind Dallas City Hall to the shaded section of the plaza. From a row of coolers parked on a sidewalk, volunteers handed out over 200 sandwiches and hot meals, roughly the same number of bottles of water and some canned goods to homeless individuals. Organizers also said that 10 people were registered to vote the day after July 4 at an expanded distribution dubbed “The People’s Picnic.”
But while volunteers started lugging supplies to the plaza, security guards approached the group almost immediately, Wade Padgett, vice president of the People of Dallas Houseless Aid, said. He told them to vacate the property. After organizers refused, Dallas Police units arrived, who were in turn followed by city code officers. That’s when the group’s president was cited for illegal vending under Chapter 50 of the Dallas City Code…