Arnold P. Abbott, president of the Maureen A. Abbott Love Thy Neighbor Fund, Inc., and culinary skills training program, organisations that feed and educate the homeless, poses in the office area of his home in Oakland Park, Florida, November 6, 2014.
Arnold P. Abbott, president of the Maureen A. Abbott Love Thy Neighbor Fund, Inc., and culinary skills training program, organisations that feed and educate the homeless, poses in the office area of his home in Oakland Park, Florida, November 6, 2014. For decades, 90-year-old Abbott has hauled pans filled with roast chicken and cheese-covered potatoes onto a south Florida beach park to feed hundreds of homeless people. For his good deeds, Abbott finds himself facing up to two months in jail and hundreds of dollars in fines after new laws that restrict public feeding of the homeless went into effect in Fort Lauderdale earlier this year. Picture taken November 6, 2014. To match Feature USA-FLORIDA/HOMELESS-CHEF REUTERS/Andrew Innerarity

For the third time, 90-year-old World War II veteran, Arnold Abbott, was arrested for his extremely strange "crime" of feeding the homeless and needy at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Last Wednesday, the retired jewellery salesman was handcuffed.

Strangely, the local mayor, Jack Seiler, supports the draconian law, although Abbott is determined to continue feeding the homeless and needy every Wednesday at 5.30, no matter how many times he is arrested. It was on Oct. 22 that the city banned the "public food sharing." The new law is clear that the organization should feed the homeless only at "designated feeding sites, or must provide portable restrooms and running water," according to BBC. The mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Jack Seiler, said that "a piecemeal approach to helping the homeless" is not really effective. According to him, the "designated feeding centres" in the city have more resources to help needy people.

In fact, about 71 cities across the country have passed or are attempting to push through ordinances saying that feeding the homeless is illegal, said Michael Stoops, director of the community organizing at the National Coalition for the Homeless, to motherjones.com. In fact, a report in October released by the National Coalition for the Homeless said that right from Jan. 2013, 22 cities have already put restrictions on food-sharing. The law is pending in nine other states.

It is not clear why the law is being passed or even considered at all, but some experts opine that the state does not like homeless people getting "visibility," as it would reflect on the state. Kelly McAdoo, the assistant city manager of Hayward, California, offered some reasons to NBC. She said that gathering at a park to drink, drive, relieve themselves and fight creates issues for other residents, who tend to feel uncomfortable in the park. Moreover, such acts would encourage more homelessness, she feels.

Abbott was "caught" third time in a different city park, and is facing the threat of 60 days in jail or a $500 fine. On Nov. 2 an officer had yelled "'Drop that plate immediately.' As though it were a weapon," Abbott recalled to counterdurrents.com. Having started the beautiful organization called Love Thy Neighbor Foundation, Abbott clarifies that he will not follow the local Mayor's rules and will also not get into "action" to fight the right to feed the homeless accorded to him by a 1999 ruling.

Thanking his supporters, Abbott clarified that having faced many assaults by the Ku Klux Klan, he had no fear about spending time in Lauderdale jail. He wrote on Facebook: "I thank you all, and I pray that we all stay strong. We shall prevail!" He is firm that he is going to continue the practice that he has been following for more than two decades. "We will continue as long as there is breath in my body," he said to MotherJones.