The saga between the city and Davis has been playing out all year. In January, the city charged him with multiple counts of violating its special permits ordinance for conducting Sunday Picnic events to feed the unhoused in city parks. That prosecution ended in September when the two sides struck a plea deal that banned Davis from Tempe parks and placed him on unsupervised probation.
That deal didn’t last three weeks. On Oct. 1, Tempe police arrested Davis for entering a city park. He was charged with “interfering with court proceedings,” reinstating the prosecution against him. On Monday, the two sides halted the court battle again, agreeing that Davis would remain banned from city parks and be subject to probation for 18 months, six months longer than before.
Davis’ probation will end on May 16, 2026. Both he and Tempe spokesperson Kris Baxter-Ging confirmed the details of the agreement to Phoenix New Times, though Baxter-Ging offered no further comment.
“The legal system at the city level is designed to allow those in power to protect themselves at all costs,” Davis said after striking the deal, “even if their actions are immoral, criminal and harming members of our community.”
The deal ends Davis’ conflict with the city, at least for now. The clash began earlier this year when the city denied a permit to Davis’ organization, AZ Hugs; charged him with the permit violations; and demanded he stop his feedings. Davis continued feeding the homeless anyway, and a Tempe Municipal Court judge declined to enjoin him from stopping while the court case was pending.
While the case wound its way through court, the city began charging Davis with trespassing violations. He received five trespassing charges in July and was arrested on July 26 by Tempe police, who threw Davis into jail for a night. On Sept. 11, Davis and the city reached its original plea deal, which also barred Davis from acting as an officer of AZ Hugs if it hosts an event.
The new deal
The plea deal was shredded on Oct. 1, when Davis was arrested at Tempe Beach Park.According to a press release from the Sharing Food is Not a Crime Coalition — a collection of Tempe community members who have assisted Davis since his first arrest — Davis was arrested after he “walked upon the sidewalk adjacent to Tempe Beach Park to de-escalate a heated altercation between two unhoused individuals.”
“Had the park rangers done what any Good Samaritan or properly trained public servant might have done, Austin would not have needed to engage with anyone and risk violating his probation,” the group said in a statement. “Tempe Park Rangers and Police should focus on mediating conflict instead of creating more of it.”
Russell Facente, Davis’ attorney, told New Times that Davis has no more pending court dates stemming from the arrests.
Davis remains banned from parks. In his stead, Tempe residents including newly elected state Sen. Lauren Kuby have continued his mission to feed and aid the homeless. Davis said he and AZ Hugs are not involved in the feedings any longer.
“One positive thing that’s come out of all this is we’ve rallied together a coalition of groups, people, folks in the community who want to continue supporting the homeless. So the community — not associated with AZ Hugs — has continued to feed the homeless,” Davis told New Times in September. "I’m really thankful and grateful for the community keeping that going.”
