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A civil rights leader who said he was asked to leave a movie screening because of a specialized chair he tried to use called the incident a violation of his 14th Amendment rights.
At a news conference Friday, Bishop William Barber, 60, said the situation with theater staff should never have escalated and he believed the incident was a violation of his rights under the law. 14th Amendmentthat protects the civil rights of Americans.
Speaking to reporters in Greenville, North Carolina, where the incident occurred, Barber also offered new details, saying he was one of the people who called 911 because he felt unsafe about how theater staff treated him.
The civil rights leader said theater staff asked him to leave a screening of โThe Color Purpleโ because of a special chair he tried to use in the theater's handicapped section. CNN previously reported.
Barber, who previously served as president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said he suffers from ankylosing spondyloarthritis, a type of arthritis he has dealt with for decades. As a result, he walks using two canes and uses a specialized chair to relieve discomfort while he sits, he told CNN. In video of the incident shared by Barber with CNN, the chair appears to have a backrest and no arms.
Addressing whether he believed race played a factor in the confrontation, Barber said the AMC staff โwasn't white,โ which to him underscored that โbad is just bad,โ regardless of skin color, he said.
"It should never have been a police escalation situation, it should never have been threatened with being charged with trespassing," Barber said.
The Greenville Police Department confirmed that officers arrived at AMC Fire Tower 12 after receiving a trespassing call. Officers said the caller said a customer was arguing with employees and the employees wanted the customer removed.
After a conversation with Barber, he agreed to leave the theater voluntarily and no charges were filed, according to a statement from Greenville police.
Barber said the morning visit the day after Christmas was planned as a special memory with his 90-year-old mother. Barber said she had to leave her with an assistant when she was asked to leave the theater or face arrest.
โOne of the managers (said) 'what's the problem,'โ Barber recalled.
"What's the problem? Civil rights and disability rights are a big problem," he said.
Barber claims that the workers' actions went against Title 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act"which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and public accommodation," he said.
AMC representatives said in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WITN that they apologized to Barber.
"AMC President and CEO Adam Aron has already called him by phone and plans to meet with him in person in Greenville, North Carolina, next week to discuss this situation and the good works that Bishop Barber is involved in. over the years," the statement reads. โWe are also reviewing our policies with our theater teams to help ensure situations like this do not happen again.โ
Barber said he will meet with AMC representatives on Tuesday.
In 1993, Barber joined Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro and over the next three decades became known for his work addressing issues such as poverty, inequality and racism. He served as president of the North Carolina NAACP chapter from 2005 to 2017.
CNN's Zoe Sottile and Sharif Paget contributed to this report.
