Civil rights leader removed from movie theater for using his own chair

By Ben Finley | The Associated Press The Rev. William Barber and the Poor People’s Campaign talk to reporters about the need for the “Build Back Better” plan, voting rights, health care, immigrant rights and action on climate change, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) (AP) – A civil rights leader was escorted by police out of a North Carolina movie theater after he insisted on using his own chair for medical reasons, prompting an apology from the nation’s largest movie theater chain. The incident occurred Tuesday in Greenville during a showing of “The Color Purple.” The Rev. William Barber II said he needs the chair because he suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, a disabling bone disease. Barber, 60, leads a nonprofit called Repairers of the Breach, which focuses on issues including voter suppression and poverty. He also co-chairs the national Poor People’s Campaign, which is modeled after an initiative launched in 1968 by the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. During an hourlong news conference on Friday, Barber spoke in support of people with disabilities and the need for businesses to provide the accommodations required under the Americans with...