Atlanta Journal Constitution, Thurs., September 28, 1989

[Headline] Demand by Disabled: 'We Will Ride'
(This story is in two parts both of which are included here)

Photo: African American police officer with hat perched on his head uses large bolt cutters to cut through a very heavy motorcycle chain that is locked to the neck of an ADAPT protester and the steering wheel of a bus. Behind him is the door of the bus and another officer stands below on the steps. In the foreground is part of a protest sign saying Greyhound. Photo by John Spink, Staff

caption reads: Officer C.A. Wardlaw cites a chain holding protester Clayton Jones to a Greyhound bus steering wheel.

[Headline] Protesters Arrested After Halting Greyhound Buses.
By Pat Burson, Staff Writer

More than two dozen disabled activists were arrested Wednesday after they halted bus service at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Atlanta for nearly five hours by blocking driveways with their wheelchairs and, in some cases, chaining themselves to the buses.

The demonstrators, who were in town this week to protest the lack of accessible transportation, were driven to jail in a lift-equipped transit bus. Those arrested were charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and failing to clear streets and sidewalks, said Atlanta police Maj. J.L. Mullins. They were released later on their own recognizance.

More than 100 disabled protesters wearing headbands and carrying placards began encircling the bus terminal at 3:30 pm. with the majority lined up against the front of the building along International Boulevard. chanting, “We will ride" and “Access is our civil right."

Others moved to the back of the terminal and blocked five buses by parking their wheelchairs in front and behind to prevent the drivers from leaving the station.

During the protest, police also closed International Boulevard between Spring and Williams streets and rerouted rush-hour traffic.

Greyhound officials declined to comment on the protest, which effectively closed the station until 8 p.m.

One demonstrator, Clayton Jones, 41, of Houston, pulled himself into the driver‘s seat of an unoccupied bus and chained himself to the steering column. Earlier in the afternoon, he chained himself to the rear wheel of a bus.

“I am trying to hold up Greyhound because they are holding up my life," said Mr. Jones, who lost the use of his legs in a 1985 accident.

Mr. Jones said he has tried to ride Greyhound alone, but could not because of its “Helping Hands" policy, which requires a passenger in a wheelchair to be carried on and off the buses but allows a companion to travel with the disabled passenger free of charge. The policy also prohibits battery-powered wheelchairs inside the buses.

“Is this a free America?" Lillibeth Navarro of Los Angeles shouted at police, draping a full-sized American flag around her body as other protesters were being loaded into the lift-equipped bus. “You are abetting Greyhound’s discriminatory policies!"

The bus station was a new target for members of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, or ADAPT, who spent Monday and Tuesday occupying the main floor of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building several blocks to the south. They protested outside the Atlanta Hilton Hotel on Courtland Street on Sunday, where the American Public Transit Association (APTA) is holding its annual convention.

Atlanta was chosen as the target for the protests, even though MARTA only buys handicapped-accessible buses, because of the APTA convention here.

The Denver-based ADAPT is demanding that all public buses purchased with federal dollars be made handicapped-accessible through installation of wheelchair lifts.

The demonstrators targeted Greyhound, one of their major foes in the transportation industry because it does not have lift-equipped buses, will not transport people using electric-powered wheelchairs and requires disabled passengers to travel with their own attendants when they ride on its buses.

Tom Street, regional general manager for the bus line, said only four buses carrying a total of 80 passengers left Atlanta during the protest. On a normal evening, 20 buses carrying up to 600 passengers would pass through the terminal.

The protest came as a surprise to some who thought victories won by the protesters with federal officials Tuesday would have sent them packing. The protesters met with Steven A Diaz, chief counsel for the Urban Mass Transportation Administration, who told them he would ask Transportation Department officials to meet with them 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.

Protesters swarmed on the first Greyhound bus that pulled up to the International Boulevard entrance about 4:30 p.m. Three people in wheelchairs and one man who is blind sat in front of the bus, arms linked, while several other protesters went to the side of the bus. One man maneuvered himself out of his wheelchair and onto the steps of the bus while bewildered passengers looked on.

One angry passenger screamed obscenities at the protesters as she stepped over the man lying in the doorway.

“I just got out of Hardwick prison camp," said the 32 year-old woman, referring to the Georgia Women's Correctional Institution. “We left Hardwick at 8:30 and changed buses three times before we got to Atlanta. I want to go home.

“I haven't been home in eight months. I have people waiting at the bus station for me. I said this morning, ‘I‘m free at last,‘ and I come to Atlanta and see this!"

Greyhound officials called in police while protest leaders talked by phone to representatives of the bus company at its Dallas headquarters.

Most protesters allowed officers to maneuver their wheelchairs over to a lift-equipped bus the police called to the site for the arrests, while others chose to evade police.

Staff writer Ben Smith III contributed to this article.

Photo (by John Spink/Staff): A group of 4 helmeted police men and a supervisor surround and hold a young African American woman wearing an ADAPT headband. Behind them is the side of an Americruiser over the road coach (bus). In one corner a sign reading "Greyhound is a Dirty Dog" is taped to the bus.
Caption: Atlanta police remove protester Anita Cameron of Colorado Springs from Greyhound terminal Wednesday. More than two dozen demonstrators were arrested.

Created on

Friday 12 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 8 April 2015

Tags

accessible transit, ADA, ADAPT 1989, arrest, Atlanta, Clayton Jones, disability, Greyhound, poilice

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