Police Cite Rule On Seeking Donations
TAMPA – Saxophone player Maximin Andre Pierre has a new reason to wail the blues.
It was bad enough, he said, that he was homeless after being arrested for stealing a milk crate – a charge he denies even though he entered a guilty plea.
Once again, he became an inmate at Orient Road Jail. This time, though, he has a well-known attorney who promises to argue his case on First Amendment grounds.
Pierre was arrested Sunday afternoon while playing his sax in Ybor City.
In addition to being behind bars until posting bail Monday night, Pierre is temporarily separated from his beloved King soprano saxophone, which was impounded as evidence.
The 58-year-old Pierre was warned by police that he should not be collecting donations in Ybor City without a permit. About 2:20 p.m., when he failed to heed those warnings, he was arrested, according to a police report.
Pierre was charged with one count of vending in Ybor City without a permit, a misdemeanor.
Speaking Monday from Orient Road Jail, Pierre said he is “an artist who is trying to make a living with his art.”
He said he only pleaded guilty to the milk crate charge because he wanted to get out of jail. But, he said, he intends to fight this latest charge, no matter how long it takes him.
“There should be something in the Constitution that protects someone with little or no power,” he said. “This country was built on capitalism. What I do is one of the purest forms of capitalism there is.”
Pierre said the amount of money he can earn in a day ranges widely, from nothing to $100.
The biggest single donation he received was $50, from a man who listened to him for hours, he said.
A self-described jazz musician, Pierre said he usually plays standards, such as “The Pink Panther Theme,” “Tequila” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” when he is working the streets in Ybor City.
“If I were on stage, I would play Coltrane,” he said, referring to legendary jazz artist John Coltrane. “I am really into straight-ahead jazz.”
Still, he said he prefers playing on the streets “because I enjoy the freedom.”
He got a chance to taste that freedom again Monday night. After learning about Pierre’s plight, noted First Amendment attorney Luke Lirot agreed to represent Pierre and post his $250 bail.
“We heard about it and we haven’t had a chance to look at Tampa’s ordinance, but based on what we heard, they are somehow harassing him and there is no constitutional way to prevent someone from playing the saxophone on the sidewalk,” said Lirot’s co-counsel, Brandon Kolb.
