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ADAPT (496)
Tues., September 26, 1989 [Headline] Disabled Try to Block Access To Elevators [Subheading] Protesters Continue Russell Building Sit-In By Alma E. Hill and Pat Burson, Staff Writers [This is the full text of the story that appears on ADAPT 496, 509 and 488.] Protesters in wheelchairs moved to block elevators in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building today in their second straight day inside the building, as federal officials increased security. Ed Driver, chief of law enforcement for the General Services Administration, said six security guards were brought in “so that we can maintain access to and from the building." “We're not going to do anything, we just want to be able to maintain an element of safety in the building," Mr. Driver said. At 11:50 a.m., leaders of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) gave the signal and protesters began to chant and roll their wheelchairs in front of the doors on the plaza level of the federal building to restrict access to and from the building, as they had done Monday. Moments later, in an apparent shift in tactics, the group moved toward elevators to cut off access to upper floors in the high-rise. Protesters said they will continue to demonstrate until President George Bush or Transportation Secretary Samuel Skinner complies with their demands to issue a federal mandate requiring new buses purchased with federal dollars to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Judges who work in the federal building avoided problems getting out of the building by leaving before the noon takeover. And the doors to the Peachtree Federal Employees Credit Union, located in the southwest corner of the building, closed as soon as protesters began to shout. Visitors are being directed out of the basement and second floor exits. The Rev. Wade Blank, of Denver, said officials from the Urban Mass Transit Administration came over to the building to meet with pro- Disabled Group Stages Protest For Wheelchair Lifts on Buses from page A1 [starts on 496, continues here 509, ends on 488. Overlap with 509 and 488] ...test organizers. However, the meeting never took place. “They got on the elevator and didn't tell us what floor they were going to. so we said, ‘The hell with it."' the Rev. Blank said. The protesters began their demonstration Monday to coincide with an appearance by Mr. Skinner at the American Public Transit Association (APTA) convention at a downtown hotel. After occupying the plaza floor of the federal building for eight hours Monday, more than 100 disabled activists were evicted at the close of the business day, only to be allowed back inside after President Bush personally intervened. “We're here until the order gets signed." Michael W. Auberger, of Denver, one of the co-founders and organizers of ADAPT, said Monday. Mr. Auberger and other demonstrators from throughout the country lined their wheelchairs two and three deep near the doorways to the federal building. located at the corner of Spring Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, trying to stop anyone from leaving or entering. Mr. Auberger, who has been disabled since he suffered a spinal cord injury 17 years ago, and others blocked revolving doors by attaching chains and iron bicycle locks around their necks and locking them to door handles, a tactic used to prevent security from simply lifting protesters out of their wheelchairs to clear the doorways. At one point Monday afternoon Mr. Auberger, 35, said, “They'll have to carry everybody out or arrest them." At 6 p.m. Atlanta police and officers from the General Services Administration, who provide security for the building, ordered the protesters to leave and began carrying them outside. The guards used large bolt cutters to sever the chains holding some demonstrators to the doors. At about 8 p.m., as guards were removing the last of the demonstrators, Gary C. Cason, regional administrator of the General Services Administration, told police and maintenance workers to allow the protesters back into the building. “The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest." Mr. Cason said. Mr. Cason said Mr. Bush also said he was concerned about the protesters sitting outside in the chilly overnight temperatures and rainy mist. Maintenance crews appeared a half-hour later with blankets. Mr. Cason said the protesters would be restricted to the lobby floor and would have access to the restrooms. Protest organizers credit White House counsel C. Boyden Gray for Mr. Bush's action. Mr. Auberger said they contacted Mr. Gray, who took their case to Mr. Bush. The president then called the head of the GSA, Richard G. Austin in Washington, telling him to allow the demonstrators back inside. The protest forced most visitors to the building Monday to use a basement entrance adjacent to an underground parking lot. Mr. Auberger said the group planned to stay in the building overnight and would block the entrances again at noon if the Transportation Department does not order changes in transit-access rules. “At noon the administration has to decide whether or not they are going to arrest us, or we’re closing the building down again,” he said shortly before 11 p.m., as the protesters ate Chinese food they had ordered and made themselves comfortable in the hallway on the Spring Street side of the building. The demonstration was the second in as many days held by ADAPT, a nationwide organization. The event was held in Atlanta to coincide with the annual conference of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), meeting this week in Atlanta, and to attract the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner, who spoke to APTA Monday morning. APTA opposes legislation pending in Congress — that ADAPT supports — called the Americans With Disabilities Act. The proposal would remove barriers in public transportation by requiring public transit authorities to have wheelchair lifts on any new buses purchased 30 days after the measure was enacted. APTA officials say they oppose that portion of the measure because it would cut into limited federal funds. While Mr. Skinner has said he supports the bill, ADAPT wants him to issue an executive order so the stipulation can take effect immediately — prior to congressional action. Protesters demanded to talk with Mr. Skinner while he was in Atlanta, but Mr. Skinner departed for St. Croix without meeting with them. Robert Marx, a spokesman for Mr. Skinner, said the secretary does not have the authority to issue such an order, only the president. Spokesmen for ADAPT believe Mr. Skinner is not championing their cause because of a lawsuit the group won against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) two years ago, when Mr. Skinner was chairman of the city's Regional Transportation Authority. The court ruling required the CTA to purchase wheelchair lifts when ordering new buses. Photo: Looking down the long narrow glass walled lobby. In the foreground a man is lying bundled in a blanket on the floor. Beside him his motorized wheelchair sits empty. A little further back in the lobby several people sit in their wheelchairs and scooters by a cardboard box and some bags and papers. photo by ANDY SHARP caption: Woody Osburn of Tulsa, sleeping, and others, seen early today in the Russell Building.
ADAPT (499)
[Headline] Handicapped Demonstrators Block Building [Subheading] Dozens Of Disabled Protest Poor Transportation Access Alma Hill and Sandra McIntosh, Staff Writers 9-25-89 PHOTO (by Dianne Laakso/Staff): Paulette Patterson, lying in her manual wheelchair in a red top, yells and holds a power fist in the air while 4 police men push her down the street. The group is isolated alone in the middle of the empty street. Wooden red and white police barricades line the street on the left side and along the bottom of the picture, and behind them a mass of ADAPT protesters look on. Caption: A protester in a wheelchair is moved back behind a barricade Sunday at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel, where the the American Public Transit Association was meeting. About 100 demonstrators called for more accessible public transportation. **************** Dozens of disabled people blocked access to the Richard B. Russell Federal Building today by parking their wheelchairs in front of revolving doorways to protest the lack of handicapped accessibility on public transportation. The protesters converged on the federal building to demand that Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner sign an executive order requiring any bus purchased with federal dollars to have wheelchair lifts. They also want the Air Carrier Accessibility Act of 1986 implemented. The act requires equal access in airports for disabled people. The protest coincided with Mr. Skinner's appearance in Atlanta as part of the American Public Transportation Association's (APTA) convention. The association has said local governments should be given the option of purchasing wheelchair lifts on buses, but the demonstrators want them mandated by federal law. “We're here and we aren’t going to leave until Sam Skinner signs the executive order," said\.Diane Coleman of Nashville. Ms. Coleman. who has been using a wheelchair since she was 11, said her disability is not the problem. “The problem . .. is discrimination,“ she said. “And behind that, the barrier is attitudes. We've been discriminated against for too long. and we‘re not going to sit for it any longer." The demonstrators forced scores of employees and people doing business at the federal building to exit from the basement. if they wanted to leave. All main level entrances to the building were blocked. After some people stepped over wheelchairs to get out, protesters lined their wheelchairs two and three deep to prevent people from walking over them. But some onlookers sympathized with the protesters. “I think these people have every right in the world to be concerned about their ability to gain access to public facilities. If it means I am temporarily inconvenienced, that's OK with me," said Edward Katze, a lawyer. The demonstrators vowed to hold their positions until Mr. Skinner comes to the federal building and suffered a spinal cord injury 17 years ago, and others blocked revolving doors by attaching chains and iron bicycle locks around their necks and locking them to door handles. a tactic used to prevent security from simply lilting protesters out of their wheelchairs to clear the doorways. At one point Monday afternoon, Mr. Auberger, 35, said, “They‘ll have to carry everybody out or arrest them." At 6 p.m., Atlanta police and officers from the General Services Administration, who provide security for the building, ordered the protesters to leave and began carrying them outside. The guards used large bolt cutters to sever the chains holding some demonstrators to the doors. At about 8 p.m., as guards were removing the last of the demonstrators, Gary C. Cason, regional administrator of the General Services Administration, told police and maintenance workers to allow the protesters back into the building. “The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest," Mr. Cason said. Mr. Cason said Mr. Bush also said he was concerned about the protesters sitting outside in the chilly overnight temperatures and rainy mist. Maintenance crews appeared a half-hour later with blankets. and cots were promised. Mr. Cason said the protesters would be restricted to the lobby floor and would have access to the restrooms. Protest organizers credit White House counsel C. Boyden Gray for Mr. Bush's action. Mr. Auberger said they contacted Mr. Gray, who took their case to Mr. Bush. The president then called the head of the GSA, Richard G. Austin, in Washington, telling him to allow the demonstrators back inside. Mr. Auberger said the group planned to stay in the building overnight and would block the entrances again at noon if the Transportation Department does not order changes in transit-access rules. “At noon the administration has to decide whether or not they are going to arrest us, or we're closing the building do\vn again," he said shortly before 11 p.m., as the protesters ate Chinese food they had ordered and made themselves comfortable in the hallway on the Spring Street side of the building. The protest forced most visitors to the building Monday to use a basement entrance adjacent to an underground parking lot. The demonstration was the second in as many days held by ADAPT, a nationwide organization. The event was held in Atlanta to coincide with the annual conference of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), meeting this week in Atlanta, and to attract the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner, who spoke to APTA Monday morning. APTA opposes legislation pending in Congress — that ADAPT supports — called the Americans With Disabilities Act. The proposal would remove barriers in public transportation by requiring public transit authorities to have wheelchair lifts on any new buses purchased 30 days after the measure was enacted. APTA officials say they oppose that portion of the measure because it would cut into limited federal funds. While Mr. Skinner has said he supports the bill, ADAPT wants him to issue an executive order so the stipulation can take effect immediately prior to congressional action. Protesters demanded to talk with Mr. Skinner while he was in Atlanta, but Mr. Skinner departed for St. Croix without meeting with them. Robert Marx. a spokesman for Mr. Skinner, said the secretary does not have the authority to issue such an order, only the president.
ADAPT (375)
San Francisco September 30,1987 S.F. Independent PHOTO (right middle of page) by Rick Gerharter: At least nine wheelchair users (among them, Rick James, Stephanie Thomas, Woody Carlson, Cathy Thomas or Julie Farrar and others) fill the front of the frame blocking a bus with a sign with the APTA logo and Hotels written on it. Most of the blockers are facing toward the bus, away from the camera. Police stand on either side of the bus. Two protesters have Proud and Disabled bumper stickers on the backs of their wheelchairs. Caption: Disabled protesters blocked a SamTrans bus Monday at the American Public Transit Association convention taking place this week at Moscone Center. [Headline] Bitter Protests at Transit Meet By: Carol Farron [This story continues on a second page we do not have at this time.] Disabled people from throughout the United States are angry and have gathered in San Francisco this week to protest the lack of accessibility on public transit systems throughout the nation. The protesters are hoping to force transit officials who are convening at the annual meeting of the American Public Transit Association to change their thinking on transit accessibility for the disabled. APTA, public transit's biggest lobbying group, took the lead in the early 1980s in convincing Congress to overturn federal regulations allowing full transit accessibility for the disabled. What resulted from that decision was a "local option" plan. This allowed individual transit agencies to decide if they would provide accessibility for the disabled on fixed route service or an alternate van/taxi service. Many disabled `groups` are unhappy with that outcome, charging that the local option denies them their civil rights and impedes or prohibits their ability to attend school or hold down jobs because of a lack of transportation. Additionally, many disabled say that paratransit is a paternalistic system that segregates them from society, and users are made to feel helpless. APTA members contend that full accessibility is expensive and unworkable. They say that equipping buses and trains with lifts is too expensive given the number of disabled riders. The disabled, however, say that transit's estimates of disabled riders are low, and accessible transit can work as cities like Seattle, San Francisco and Denver have proven. More than 200 wheelchair bound men and women said last Saturday at a press conference that because the current regulations deny them their civil rights they came prepared to be arrested - and that they were. Thirty-four people, most in wheelchairs, were arrested at a City Hall protest last Sunday, and another 22 were arrested in for blocking a Samtrans bus at Moscone Center on Monday. Many more arrests are expected until the convention's conclusion this Thursday. "This is a militant bunch of protestors," said Jack Gilstrap, executive vice president of APTA. "These people terrified and roughed up some of our members at city hall. "Just because someone is in a wheelchair doesn't mean they're nice." Marilyn Golden of SAAT, the September Alliance for Accessible Transit, said her group is "far from militant." see Rides, page 2
ADAPT (294)
PHOTO by News photo / Gary Porter: Large group of ADAPT protesters behind barricades that sandwich them up against the wall of the front of the Westin Hotel. In the crowd you can see, among others, on far left Bernard Baker, facing backwards Frank McComb, next to Frank Lori and husband from Chicago, Caption reads: [Headline] Disabled protesters Members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) demonstrate in front of the Westin Hotel on Sunday. ADAPT members are demanding improved access tor the disabled on buses and other public transportation. They attempted to disrupt the meetings of the American Public Transit Association which convened in Detroit last weekend. Story / 3B.
ADAPT (486)
PHOTO Tom Olin?: Two police officers, one in plain clothes and one in uniform stand talking but looking in opposite directions. The plain clothes man has on a tie and jacket. He has his arms crossed across his chest, as does the other officer. Behind them are visible, parts of the fronts of two large buses sitting side by side. Between the cops and the buses is partially visible the line of people in wheelchairs who are blocking the buses. Diane Coleman is partially visible, with an "Access Not Excuses" poster in front of her legs, and another man's head is visible with his access poster -- around the shoulder of one of the officers.
ADAPT (540)
PHOTO (by Tom Olin) Slightly on angle, this picture is filled with people and a sense of motion. It focuses an elevator in a fancy building and the struggle at that elevator door. Inside the elevator you can see the head of some kind of police officer with a gold badge on his hat. Behind him, deeper in the elevator you can barely make out a woman with a white necklace standing back from the door. In front of the officer a young woman (Rhonda Lester), with an ADAPT bandanna tied like a headband, body-blocks one of the elevator doors as she holds the rim of the doorway with both hands. Next to her a man in a power wheelchair (Arthur Campbell) fills the rest of the doorway. He is wearing a peach colored ADAPT T-shirt with the no steps ADAPT logo and is bracing his body in his chair and against the woman's back. To his right, just outside the doorway of the elevator a young man in a manual wheelchair (Kent Killium) in a Chicago ADAPT "ADAPT or Perish" T-shirt (with the evolution series from ape to man and ending in a wheelchair) sits holding onto Arthur's power chair and looking at the struggle in the doorway. In front of Kent's chair is another power wheelchair user (Rick James) with a dark beard and and a red ADAPT bandanna tied around his black hat; he too is watching the struggle over his shoulder, hand on his joy stick ready to make a move. Behind Kent is a sign that reads Plaza Level and some other words that are not really in focus, and next to that sign is a camera person shooting footage of the struggle. Another camera person is in front of Rick, with his back to the photographer. Both of these cameras look like the large professional kind with lights and microphones attached to the cameras. Two women stand with their backs to the camera filling the bottom of the picture, one seems to be holding onto the back of a manual wheelchair. Someone's arm is fulling extended from out of the picture and he is holding a small box of some kind out toward the elevator.
ADAPT (621)
PHOTO (by DIANNE LAAKSO/Staff): A tall African American man dressed in a casual clothes and carrying a baby in his left arm is extending his right leg forward to step over two people in wheelchairs who are attempting to block a glass doorway which is open. The man and the child have calm expressions and are looking down. The man holds the arm of one of the people in wheelchairs who is facing away from the camera. This person has a bumper-sticker on their battery box that reads "End USA Apartheid" and this person has both arms bent at the elbows and raised and is dressed in a warm jacket over a hoodie. To this person's left is a woman (Christine Coughlin) sitting with her wheelchair facing the first wheelchair so her feet touch the other chair's wheel. Both protesters look somewhat tense and rigid. On the back wall of the lobby is a abstract mural. Caption reads: Members of ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation block the doors of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building this morning as they protest lack of accessibility on public transportation. The protesters want Secretary of Transportation Samuel Skinner to sign an executive order requiring any bus purchased with federal money to have wheelchair lifts. [Headline] Handicapped Protesters Block Russell Building In Demonstration Over Transportation Access From Page Al [we do not have the first part of this article. Also, the bottom of this page is torn so parts of the 6th paragraph and last 2 paragraphs are missing.] agrees to their demands. Sen. Sam Nunn‘s office, which is located in the federal building, was asked to relay a message to Mr. Skinner, who was at the Atlanta Hilton Hotel, that his presence was wanted. In the meantime, protesters, using bullhorns and their strongest voices, shouted “What do we want? We want Skinner!" This morning a protest followed a demonstration Sunday in front of the Hilton Hotel as the convention started, Stephanie Thomas, a spokeswoman for the group ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation), said the protesters were angry over the transit group's continued opposition to federal legislation that would prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities. The protest was timed to coincide with the opening of the convention of APTA, a trade group representing a majority of public transit systems in North America. The bill, known as the Amer[icans] with Disabilities Act, would [make it] illegal to discriminate against disabled people in employment and places of public accommodations, would assure those with speech or hearing impairments of special equipment allowing them to communicate with anyone and would remove barriers in transportation. It is the latter part that upsets the members of APTA. “We assume it will become law, and if it does we'll implement it," said Albert Engelken, APTA‘s deputy executive director. “But that doesn't mean we have to be happy about it." Mr. Engelken said he does not want to sound cold-hearted, but with shrinking federal transportation funds it sometimes does not make sense to use those funds to install seldom-used wheelchair lifts on buses. “We're not harsh people, but our job is to offer the most people the most mobility for the best possible price," Mr. Engelken said. Ms. Thomas said her group does not expect the transit systems to refit all their buses immediately. nor make all the train stations immediately available to the disabled, ' “We realize it's a longtime goal, and we're willing to wait. We know the costs involved," Ms. Thomas said as other members crowded around. "All we're asking for is a commitment that they‘re willing to do these things, and they won't give us that." The Sunday protest, which closed part of Courtland Street, lasted about four hours and was watched by nearly as many police officers as there were pro[testers.] Police Maj. W.W. Holley [... ar]rests were made. ADAPT member [...] to hold Sunday [...] Holley said n[...] issued. The gr[...] protests in oth[er...] years. TEXT BOX INSERTED IN MIDDLE OF ARTICLE reads: The Americans With Disabilities Act would make it illegal to discriminate against disabled people in employment and places of public accommodations and remove barriers in transportation.
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Court Says Yes Again Bush agrees to back lifts, allows ADAPT to occupy federal building [This is part 2 of the story that starts on ADAPT 508, the full text of the story appears on 508]
ADAPT (502)
THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE ARTICLE IN ADAPT 492. See ADAPT 492 for the complete story.
ADAPT (501)
Photo Only (By Tom Olin): (Right to left) Mark McTimus, Barbara Toomer, Mike Auberger, Stephanie Thomas, Frank Lozano and Frazier block the front of a Greyhound bus. Mark is on a tiny yellow scooter holding a yellow sign that says "Lifts Not Lies." Barb is in a manual chair and short sleeved shirt holding a camera; her red sign - taped across her legs -- reads "Go Greyhound And You'll Leave Us Behind! Mike has one long braid and a beard and mustache, his hands are on his hips and like all the others he is chanting; his left leg is elevated in front of him on a padded footrest with no shoe, only a sock (this is to protect an injury he got in the LA County Jail). Stephanie is facing slightly away from the camera with several buttons and stickers on her sports wheelchair and overalls. She is wearing blue-rimmed mirror sunglasses and her sign, also taped over her legs, reads "ALL Aboard." To her left Frank stands wearing his backpack and an ADAPT headband. He and Frazier, his white lab dog guide who sits in front of him, have the same noble expression on their faces. Frank's sign which he holds in one hand, reads "We Will Ride."
ADAPT (500)
ON THE MOVE [Headline] Disabled Win Partial Victory in Sit-In Over Bus Access By Alma E. Hill Staff Writer The second day of protests by disabled persons — who blocked the main entrances and elevators of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building — ended Tuesday afternoon when an agreement was reached between officials of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UMTA) and leaders of the demonstration. American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) protested a lack of access for the handicapped to public buses and demanded an immediate order from the federal government that all new buses be equipped with wheelchair lifts. In an impromptu meeting on the front steps of the building with protest leaders, Steven A Diaz, chief counsel for UMTA, said it was not within U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner's authority to issue such an order. However, he agreed to ask Transportation Department officials to meet with the protesters to establish a process to identify public transit authorities that are deliberately speeding up purchase of new buses to circumvent a bill pending in Congress mandating that such buses have wheelchair lifts. The Americans With Disabilities Act would require new buses purchased with federal dollars to be equipped with lifts. The equipment would add about $12,000 to $15,000 to the cost of a new bus and an additional $2,000 per year to maintain, according to John A Cline, associate administrator of UMTA. Without the lift, a bus costs about $155,000. UMTA also agreed to relay to Mr. Skinner ADAPT‘s concerns about the slow implementation of the Air Carriers Access Act of 1986, which stipulates that airports be accessible to the handicapped. The agreement fell short of demands protesters had made at the start of the demonstration, but ADAPT leaders said ... DISABLED Continued on B5 [we do not have second part of this article] PHOTO 1 (by Andy Sharp/Staff): A wiry grey haired man in an ADAPT T-shirt, raises himself in his motorized wheelchair, using his arms and legs to push out of the seat, mouth open yelling. Behind him a young woman with an ADAPT headband around her forehead looks at him and yells. Someone's hand is grabbing the armrest of his wheelchair. The two are trying to hold an elevator door open to block the elevator. Behind them a policeman in a hat with a tattoo on his arm tries to push them out and close the door. Caption: Police try to stop Arthur Campbell of Louisville, Ky., from blocking an elevator in the Federal Building Tuesday; at right is protester Rhonda Lester. PHOTO 2 (by Marvin Hill, JR/Staff): A woman, yelling, presses her motorized wheelchair up by the glass doors. There is a "Do Not Enter" sticker above her head. Beside her a man sits in his wheelchair with his back to the door, blocking it. Behind them several other protesters are visible through the reflections on the glass of the door. PHOTO 3 (by Andy Sharp/Staff): A disabled man lies on the floor on his side by a wheelchair while another young man with a backpack stands beside him holding a sports chair over his head as if ready to carry it over the man on the ground. Behind them a man stands on one side and on another a woman stands with her arms akimbo as if trying to balance. A small crowd is visible through the confusion. caption for photos 2 & 3: Christine Coughlin of Phoenix, Ariz. (above) joins in Tuesday's protest; Bob Kafka (right) lies on the floor to help block access to the building's elevator.
ADAPT (498)
The Atlanta Constitution For 121 Years the South's Standard Newspaper TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1989 SPORTS FINAL Photo: A tall man holding a toddler in one arm stepping over and between two motorized wheelchairs blocking the passage. One woman [Christine Coughlin] in a red jacket and headband faces the camera, while the other wheelchair user, in a blue jacket and hood, faces away. Photo by DIANNE LAAKSO/Staff Caption: A man steps over protesters in wheelchairs blocking the doors of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building on Monday. Bush Order Lets Disabled Resume Courthouse Sit-In Protesters Demanding Access To U.S.-Funded Transit Systems By Pat Burson and Alma E. Hill, Staff Writers After occupying the plaza floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building for eight hours Monday, more than 100 disabled activists were evicted at the close of the business day. only to be allowed back inside alter President Bush personally intervened. Boxed quote on the side: "The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest" -- Gary Cason, GSA Main story: The protesters, who formed a human blockade near the main entrances to the 26-story tower about 10 a.m. Monday, vowed to remain until federal regulators require wheelchair lifts on all buses purchased with federal dollars. “We're here until the order gets signed," said Michael W Auberger of Denver, one of the co-founders and organizers for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). Mr. Auberger and other demonstrators from throughout the country lined their wheelchairs two and three deep near the doorways to the federal building, located at the corner of Spring Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, trying to stop anyone from leaving or entering. Mr. Auberger, who has been disabled since he suffered a spinal cord injury 17 years ago, and others blocked revolving doors by attaching chains and iron bicycle locks around their necks and locking them to door handles. a tactic used to prevent security from simply lilting protesters out of their wheelchairs to clear the doorways. At one point Monday afternoon, Mr. Auberger, 35. said, “They‘ll have to carry everybody out or arrest them." At 6 p.m., Atlanta police and officers from the General Services Administration, who provide security for the building, ordered the protesters to leave and began carrying them outside. The guards used large bolt cutters to sever the chains holding some demonstrators to the doors. At about 8 p.m., as guards were removing the last of the demonstrators, Gary C. Cason, regional administrator of the General Services Administration, told police and maintenance workers to allow the protesters back into the building. “The decision is to let them stay in the building because of the president's deep commitment to the handicapped and their right to protest," Mr. Cason said. Mr. Cason said Mr. Bush also said he was concerned about the protesters sitting outside in the chilly overnight temperatures and rainy mist. Maintenance crews appeared a half-hour later with blankets. and cots were promised. Mr. Cason said the protesters would be restricted to the lobby floor and would have access to the restrooms. Protest organizers credit White House counsel C. Boyden Gray for Mr. Bush's action. Mr. Auberger said they contacted Mr. Gray, who took their case to Mr. Bush. The president then called the head of the GSA, Richard G. Austin, in Washington, telling him to allow the demonstrators back inside. Mr. Auberger said the group planned to stay in the building overnight and would block the entrances again at noon if the Transportation Department does not order changes in transit-access rules. “At noon the administration has to decide whether or not they are going to arrest us, or we're closing the building do\vn again," he said shortly before 11 p.m., as the protesters ate Chinese food they had ordered and made themselves comfortable in the hallway on the Spring Street side of the building. The protest forced most visitors to the building Monday to use a basement entrance adjacent to an underground parking lot. The demonstration was the second in as many days held by ADAPT, a nationwide organization. The event was held in Atlanta to coincide with the annual conference of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), meeting this week in Atlanta, and to attract the attention of U.S. Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner, who spoke to APTA Monday morning. APTA opposes legislation pending in Congress — that ADAPT supports — called the Americans With Disabilities Act. The proposal would remove barriers in public transportation by requiring public transit authorities to have wheelchair lifts on any new buses purchased 30 days after the measure was enacted. APTA officials say they oppose that portion of the measure because it would cut into limited federal funds. While Mr. Skinner has said he supports the bill, ADAPT wants him to issue an executive order so the stipulation can take effect immediately prior to congressional action. Protesters demanded to talk with Mr. Skinner while he was in Atlanta, but Mr. Skinner departed for St. Croix without meeting with them. Robert Marx. a spokesman for Mr. Skinner, said the secretary does not have the authority to issue such an order, only the president. [This is a combination the story on ADAPT 498 and 497]
ADAPT (497)
This is a continuation of the story on ADAPT 498. The full text appears on 498.
ADAPT (494)
PHOTO only by Tom Olin Paulette Patterson in a manual wheelchair, Anita Cameron and another woman protester sit on the floor mouths open, all chanting in unison. Anita and the other woman wear ADAPT headbands and have their fists raised in the power sign. Behind them George Roberts and Claude Holcomb are in their wheelchairs up against a a glass door that reads "DO NOT ENTER (with and ADAPT sticker over the center)" and "OUT." George is also chanting, Claude looks off to the side.
ADAPT (493)
PHOTO only Photo by Tom Olin Four police officers lift Mike Auberger, a quadriplegic, from the baggage compartment of an over-the-road-coach. One officer bends over Mike, the officers's walkie-talkie, handcuffs, and gun on his belt. Another wears a motorcycle helmet. Mike's long braids hang down and his arms, bent over at the elbows, extend out to the sides.