A disabled civil rights activist was escorted by police from an AMC theater in Greenville, North Carolina, earlier this week because of his disability accommodations.
On Tuesday, the Rev. William J. Barber II, 60, and his 90-year-old mother visited The Color Purple. Barber brought his own chair to the theater because he suffers from a rare form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory condition that makes it difficult for him to sit in or get up from low chairs. Barber said he placed his chair in an area for patrons with disabilities, but theater staff deemed it a “fire hazard,” he said during a news conference Friday.
“Our plans were interrupted when the managers at the AMC Theater here in Greenville decided to call the police rather than accommodate my visible disability,” he said.
According to NBC News, a Greenville police officer arrived at the theater after receiving a call about a trespassing and a patron “arguing with employees and attempting to remove them from the business.”
During the press conference, Barber emphasized that using words like “arguing” and “trespass” to describe a black man “could have resulted in poor results in the wrong hands.” Although he believes a police escalation situation “should never have occurred,” the former North Carolina NAACP president said the officer handled it well when he arrived.
In a video posted to Facebook the same day of the incident, Barber can be heard agreeing to leave the theater after being asked to do so by the officer. Just outside the theater, Barber can be seen shaking hands with the officer, who later apologizes to Barber at the end of the video. As the minister left the building, he reiterated that his chair had accompanied him to places such as the White House and Broadway shows.
The chief of the Greenville Police Department reached out to Barber and asked him to meet and talk about the situation, Barber said during the news conference. The department did not immediately respond to HuffPost's request for comment.
According to ABC11, AMC apologized to Barber on Wednesday and said it plans to review its policies to “ensure situations like this do not occur again.”
“We sincerely apologize to Bishop Barber for the manner in which he was treated and for the frustration and inconvenience caused to him, his family and his guests,” the statement said.
“AMC welcomes guests with disabilities. We have a range of accommodations available in our theaters at all times and our theater teams work hard to accommodate guests whose needs fall outside the normal course of business. We encourage guests requiring special seating to speak with a manager in advance to determine what can best be accommodated in the theater to ensure a safe and comfortable experience for the guest and those around them.”
During the press conference, Barber said he had forgiven AMC Theaters and would not press charges. He also plans to meet with AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron next week in Greenville to discuss the situation.
“We plan to talk at length,” Barber said.
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