After the arrests on Labor Day in Golden Gate Park, we all danced around what food we had saved from the police; then, those of us remaining had to get out of the area without getting arrested. We went up Haight one block, and several cops on Honda motorcycles raced up to several people about 30 feet behind us. The police smacked them to the ground with their sticks, then dragged them into the street and arrested them. We thought we might be next, so we ran up a side street and continued winding up Buena Vista hill. After we crossed the hill, we walked through back streets until we got to the Channel 4 television station. We went on the air shortly after we arrived and were asked our reason for continuing to serve free food even though we faced arrest. We explained that serving free food is everyone's right and is an unregulated activity protected by the Constitution. We then encouraged everyone to stand up for his or her rights. That brought the interview to a close. 

Although the city finally issued us a health permit after these arrests, it wasn't finished trying to stop the San Francisco Food Not Bombs from distributing free food. We were harassed and arrested again in the summer of 1990; this pattern of harassment continues to this day. But, during all this, and partly because of it, Food Not Bombs has continued to grow and to expand its program. The attention and credibility the arrests brought us were invaluable. 

So far, only the city of San Francisco has made that mistake. The California Food Not Bombs groups in Sacramento, Long Beach, Santa Rosa, and East Bay have not (yet) been arrested. Neither have the groups in Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, or Portland, Oregon. We continue to grow, and we still serve free food every day. There are new chapters of Food Not Bombs springing up all the time. Perhaps today is the day Food Not Bombs will start in your town.