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Accueil / Albums / Mots-clés police
+ jail + APTA convention 3
ADAPT (329)
The Phoenix Gazette, Saturday, April 4, 1987 Picture top left by Rick Giase of The Phoenix Gazette: Two police barricades cover most of the view of a city street. Between them a motorcycle police officer sits on his cycle in front of a building. Caption: A Phoenix police officer watchers over barricades that were set up Friday at the Hyatt Regency. Title: Police prepare for wheelchair demonstration By Scott Luck and Scott Craven Phoenix police have set up a command post at the downtown Hyatt Regency to monitor actions of a group of wheelchair activists that plans to protest a convention this weekend. Although the American Public Transit Association convention is not scheduled to begin until Sunday, 20 officers Friday blockaded Monroe Street by the Hyatt. In addition to the officers, two police buses were at the scene, which police spokesman Ken Johnson said would be used, if needed, to take protesters to jail. The protesting group, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, plans to picket the convention to demand installation of wheelchair lifts in every bus and transit system that receives federal transportation funds. The group says efforts by the APTA to install equipment for the disabled have been unacceptable. The group has held similar protests in other cities across the country. Members have chained themselves to buses, obstructed bus routes, thrown themselves on to the steps of buses without lifts and generally raised havoc. The conference is scheduled to run until Wednesday. ADAPT organizer Michael Auberger said he is trying to draw 150 people together to participate in demonstrations throughout the week. “I can’t imagine why the police would be there today (Friday), especially in that location,” Auberger said. “I met with the police chief, and I didn’t tell him anything that would lead him to believe we were going to demonstrate today.” Johnson said police chief Ruben Ortega met with Auberger to help minimize any problems that might arise but said Auberger did not outline any plans for his groups protest. “We understand they (ADAPT) have a right to demonstrate just as anybody else would, but were going to make sure the demonstration is done lawfully and peacefully Johnson said.” Past ADAPT demonstrations have led to numerous arrests. “We would rather not make any arrests, but we will if we're forced to,” Johnson said. “This is something between them (ADAPT) and the transit people and we don’t want to be caught in the middle. We must, however, be prepared for the worst.” Picture to the left by Nancy Engebreston of The Phoenix Gazette: A quadriplegic man (Mike Auberger) in a motorized wheelchair sits with his arms hanging by his sides. His hair is pulled tightly back and he has a neat beard. He is wearing an ADAPT T-shirt that is partially obscured by a chest strap on his wheelchair. Caption reads: Wheelchair activist Michael Auberger. The end
ADAPT (278)
Jim Naubacher disabled In Detroit [column] Drawing of a man's head Title: He’s got access -—— to anger Before the week even started, I was teed off. The American Public Transit Association was coming to Detrolt and so were American Disabled for Accessible Puplic Transit. APTA versus ADAPT. There was insensitivity to handicappers on the part of city officials; apathy and collaboration by local handicappers nervous about ADAPT's presence, and a general lack of commitment by anyone other than ADAPT to the principle of public transit for all, accessible buses for all. I wrote a column in mid-September outlining the approaching confrontation. lt had happened in other cities. ADAPT, an outgrowth of an independent living organization in Denver called Atlantis, had fought for and won a commitment from the City of Denver for total accessibility on its main buses. ADAPT wanted the American Public Transit Association, at its 1983 Denver national convention, to take a similar public stand. lt did not, and ADAPT promised to appear each time APTA convened and protest that decision. Then I turned the story over to others, since I knew I could not be impartial. They covered the story with words and pictures, but let me tell you about some of the strange, ironic, disappointing and disturbing things that took place beginning Oct. 3 in Detroit. SAD BUT perhaps not unexpected was the reaction of city officials. In many ways, the city acted like any other city would react. It had wooed and won the APTA and promised APTA officials a safe and peaceful convention in the face of expected ADAPT protests. APTA had faced challenges from ADAPT in Denver, Los Angeles, Washington, San Antonio and Cincinnati before the Detroit convention. City officials were pretty sure they knew what to expect. What would ADAPT do? They would "do" civil disobedience. They would block buses that were not lift-equipped for wheelchair users. Wheelchair users would try to crawl onto some of these inaccessible buses. But while putting the best face possible on a woefully inadequate mass transit system, the city put the worse possible face on its position toward a mass translt system that is accessible to all. Just before the APTA delegates arrived, Mayor Young announced that the City of Detroit was buying 100 new buses. He emphasized that the service-poor city would use its own money. Thls point was notable, since Young made no mention of the new buses' accessibility. Federal regulations require non-discrimination toward handicapped riders and require communities to develop a plan to make their systems accessible. Michigan law requires that each bus bought with the aid of state money must be lift-equipped. ln response to questions, city officlals said that perhaps as many as 20 - one of five — of the new buses would be lift-equipped. NOT COINCIDENTALLY, the City of Detroit had entered into an out-of-court settlement 14 months earlier in a federal lawsuit brought by four handicappers against the city on a variety of complaints of non-compliance with federal law regarding non-discriminatlon and accommodation of handicappers. in that settlement, the city had agreed to maintain the lifts on buses and to train drivers in their proper use. But little has been accomplished. Young's announcement that the city had bought at least 80 percent inaccessible buses underlined the city's position regarding access. it also reminded handicappers that the settlement had not committed the city to providing future accessible, well maintained buses. In the meantime. efforts were under way to neutralize ADAPT. The Detroit City Council denied the group a parade permit. ADAPT had contacted Rosa Parks, the Detroit woman whose refused to move to the back of a Montgomery, Ala., bus in 1955 gained national attention and sparked protests during a different civil rights struggle. Her representatives said she would not lead a parade, but would hold a news conference. She later said she might attend a press conference, but did not. CBS reporter Ed Bradley from "60 Minutes" delivered a keynote speech at the APTA convention Oct. 6. Bradley said he had investigated ADAPT found their complaints "didn't hold water." FORD MOTOR CO. allowed a [bus] full of APTA delegates to use its private property to gain access to a coctail party site that ADAPT members planned to barricade. The Southeastern Michigan Transportatlon Authorities (SEMTA), which has committed itself to total access of its bus systems by the end of decade, loaned the Detroit police an accessible van so they could [take] ADAPT protesters to jail. Frank Cl[-]one of the plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against Detroit, provided sensitivity training to Detroit police officers who were expected to be arresting ADAPT wheelchair users. But the training only extended [so] far. Although there was no "arm twisting or head-beating," as a [police] representative described it, police were unable to appropriately house protesters and provide medical necessities, food and bedding to some who were arrested. On Oct. 7, Detroit Recorder's [County?] Judge George Crockett felt compelled to issue a writ of habeas corpus, freeing them because of these conditions.J As ADAPT members went home Oct. 8-9, I was still teed off. This will not be the end of the debate on transportation access in Detroit and across the country.
ADAPT (456)
PHOTO by Patrick Forden/Gazette Journal; The photo is looking up at Mike Auberger in a non-ADAPT T-shirt and jeans, with a short beard and mustache, hands on his hips. His chair is somewhat visible and his left leg elevated. He is sitting in the doorway of a fancy Casino with a Nugget Casino sign over the door. Caption reads: ORGANIZER: Mike Auberger of Denver says his cause is worth going to jail for. TITLE: Disabled group plans protest at transit meeting in Sparks By Susan Voyles/Gazette-Journal Up to 150 wheelchair-bound people are expected to protest outside John Ascuaga’s Nugget beginning Sunday, and Sparks police say they are ready. The protest is being staged by a national group called The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, and its target is the western regional meeting of the American Public Transit Association. As many as 700 people representing public bus systems, including many that don’t have buses with lifts to handle wheelchairs, are expected to attend. In protests at 16 other cities in recent years, disabled protesters have held marches, crawled onto or chained themselves to buses, and barricaded hotels where the public transit association held its meetings. “We try to make their conventions as inaccessible to them as they have made transportation to disabled people ” said protest organizer Mike Auberger of Denver. “They can’t just come and have fun." Auberger, 34, said he met earlier this week with representatives of Sparks police, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department and Nugget security. He was handed a 32-page list of possible violations, including felonious assault, that his group could be charged with. “From what I heard, the police department’s tactic is going to be to intimidate,” Auberger said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see the police on Sunday in riot gear.” Auberger, who arrived in town Monday to prepare for the protests, said he expects about 150 handicapped people from around the country to show up. Auberger said he met with members of the Sparks and Reno police, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Department and court marshals Tuesday. “It’s definitely threatening but I think the people coming in here are well aware of what could happen to them,” Auberger said. Already Auberger has had a confrontation, albeit a friendly one, with Nugget security and Sparks police. Monday when Auberger was casing the outside of the Nugget, with video camera in hand, a security guard and a police officer approached him and knew him by name, he said. “It gave me a real feeling for how the police are going to respond and how the casino security will respond," Auberger said. “It was like the casino burped and the police said ‘Excuse me,’ and that’s not normal." Auberger said his group has yet to begin drawing up strategy on how it will carry out its demonstration. However, Auberger predicted his group won’t be happy with being confined to B Street. “(The location) is very visible to traffic on B Street but it won’t be visible to APTA members,” Auberger said. “The spot is perfect if your issue is with the public or if it's directed at the Nugget." Auberger said his group is not violent although it is confrontational. Zamboni showed the press a 10-minute video tape of an ADAPT demonstration held in San Francisco Sept. 28, 1987. The video tape showed demonstrators blocking a SAMTRANS bus and tying their wheelchairs to the vehicle's wheelspokes and sitting on the Powell Street cable-car tum-around. It also showed police handcuffing protestors to their wheelchairs and the protestors chanting "We want to ride,” and "We want access."