4B / Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday, April 10, 1989

[Headline] Disabled protesters arrested in Sparks

Associated Press

SPARKS — About 75 wheelchair-bound people blocked the entrances to a casino Sunday to protest what they called their lack of accessibility to public bus systems. Police said about 40 protesters were arrested by late Sunday evening and more arrests were expected.

Members of a national group calling itself The American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit staged the protest by chanting slogans and blocking entrances to the Sparks Nugget.

The target of the protest was the American Public Transit Association, which is holding its western regional meeting at the Nugget through Wednesday. The association represents the nation’s bus and rapid transit systems.

The transit association opposes a move to install wheelchair lifts on new public buses and the disabled group sought a meeting with its leaders inside the casino to discuss the issue.

“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.”

However, Nugget security personnel blocked outside entrances to the protesters and denied them access, saying they posed a threat to the safety of casino patrons.

Police said four protesters were arrested on a charge of blocking a roadway on the group’s march to the Nugget, while 36 others were arrested at the casino on a variety of charges, including obstructing justice and blocking a fire exit.

Protesters started out by blocking two entrances and later blocked all but one entrance for a brief time. Police said they were forced to drag several protesters away from the doors after they resisted arrest.

In February, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled in favor of the disabled group, saying all new public buses purchased with federal funds must be equipped with wheelchair lifts.

Auberger, who uses a wheelchair because of a neck injury suffered in a bobsledding accident, said only about a dozen U.S. cities now have buses with the lifts.

“We want to be able to wait in the rain and hot sun and ride a bus like everyone else," he said. “The lifts would force integration and change the way most people view disabled people.”

However, Jack Gilstrap, executive vice president of the transit association, said his group opposes the court ruling because of the cost involved.

“Every lift costs $15,000 and they’re very expensive to maintain,” he said.

Created on

Thursday 11 July 2013

Posted on

Wednesday 7 October 2015

Tags

3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, 504, ADAPT - American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, APTA - American Public Transit Association, arrest, blocking, integration, Jack Gilstrap, Mike Auberger, Nugget Casino, wheelchair lifts

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