Police arrested Norma Thornton back in March after they saw her giving food to homeless people at a public park. The city dropped criminal charges against her, but Thornton says that's not enough, and claims the law itself is unconstitutional.
Source: 8NewsNow
Bullhead City, Ariz. (KLAS) — A 78-year-old grandmother is suing Bullhead City after she was arrested earlier this year for serving food at a local park to people experiencing homelessness and financial hardship.
Norma Thornton was arrested in March shortly after serving food she prepared to those in need at Bullhead City Community Park.
“I’d just finished up serving approximately 26 or 27 people, and the very last person that came through, I literally was scraping the bottom of my pans, finished off the food, gave him, and as he was walking away, these two police officers drove up,” Thornton said.
Body-worn camera footage of her arrest showed a Bullhead City police officer taking Thornton into custody to be fingerprinted.
“Here’s the bad news… you’re under arrest for violating the city ordinance,” the officer told Thornton, advising her he would take her fingerprints and bring her back to the park.
The new ordinance makes it a criminal misdemeanor to share prepared food in a public park “for charitable purposes” without a permit.
The video is by The Institute for Justice who've taken up Norma's case, a non-profit that helps people defend their individual liberties.
