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: the 13th juror

Homeless protest moves across the street to avoid arrests

By Jacqueline Dowd

A showdown between the city of St. Petersburg and advocates for the homeless ended peacefully Monday afternoon when protesters avoided arrest by moving across the street from the Mahaffey Theater.

Demonstrators had planned to spend four days on the sidewalk in front of the theater -- home to the CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate on Wednesday -- to protest city policies that they felt were harsh and unfair toward the homeless.

But city officials wanted to block off the sidewalk for security reasons.

"We want to get attention to the issue of homelessness," said Eric Rubin, an advocate for the homeless who was the last person to leave the barricaded area (and who used to be homeless himself). "We did that. The issue isn't about getting arrested."

Read the St. Petersburg Times article here. And check out the report from St. Pete for Peace here.

Full post as published by the 13th juror on November 27, 2007 (boomark / email).