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Protesters Want More Knowledge Of Disability Discrimination

By: Jocelyn Tovar, KARK 4 NEWS
Updated: August 5, 2012
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They wanted to educate people on what is and is not allowed to be asked under the Americans With Disabilities Act and they hoped those upset by what happened, would file a complaint.


"They have information taken straight from the ADA website," said Charles Lott because he said, the library violated those rights when they arrested a disabled man with a service dog at the library last week.


"We're trying to show them that someone was harassed and his basic rights were denied," said Lott.


On the library's security footage we first showed you Wednesday, you can see Terry "Grizz" Hayhurst with his service dog, Nia, who is trained in balance assistance as Hayhurst suffers from a spinal cord injury.


Hayhurst said he was asked questions regarding his disability that were not allowed under ADA regulations.


Library officials said he was escorted out and later arrested for not cooperating.


The protest Sunday was to show solidarity for what activists said is an injustice.


The person at the center of this debate, Hayhurst, not there Sunday. He's being arraigned at 8:30 Monday on charges of criminal trespass and said he'd rather just stay away and not complicate the issue any further.


"I don't know what happened in the situation, but I do want A.D.A. rules and regulations followed by any agency or entity," said Joy Carrington whose quick trip to the library as an errand turned into a cause.


She said she hopes more sensitivity is practiced by library officials in the future.


"If you have security guards or library staff and they don't know the rules then my thought is get educated...Just learn about it," said Carrington.


"I'm hoping if they receive a packet they read over it," said Lott, "Hopefully they'll stand-up and say 'hey' treat that person with respect, they have a disability, you can't ask those questions. "


The library let the activists confront people outside their doors without any further incidents, a number of people did file complaints with library officials.

Comments

This is the purpose - to make people aware. The library could resolve this issue easily by apologizing to Mr. Hayhurst, and by implementing educational opportunities about ADA, not only for employees, but also as a public service to the community at large.

Brenda S. August 5, 2012 at 7:01 pm

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