An MSNBC correspondent blocked two handicapped parking spots and a handicapped loading area in Texas outside of an early voting facility, forcing people with disabilities to seek alternate parking in order to vote.
James Berrie, a disabled Air Force veteran, had to find a different place to park after finding Mariana Atencio and her crew taking up the only spot his van could use. Berrie confronted the crew, expressed his displeasure, and asked them to move before heading in to cast his vote.
But when Berrie emerged from Houston’s Bayland Community Center he found that the crew hadn’t moved and were preparing for another live shot. Berrie said his wife, Susan, became angry and even stepped into the crew’s live shot, forcing MSNBC to cut the feed and move their van to another location. Berrie said he and his wife were backed up by other bystanders and local firefighters.
“They had made no effort whatsoever to move,” Berrie told local CBS affiliate KHOU11. “Their job is more important than accessibility. There were so many other places to do [their live shot]. But you chose to do it here. We’re like, ‘No. We gotta stand up.'”
MSNBC did not immediately return calls for comment, but Atencio publicly apologized on Twitter, saying that it was a “wrong call.”
We made the wrong call today by using a disabled parking spot for our live shot in TX. There’s no excuse. I apologize to the two people who were on their way to vote as it’s one of the most important parts of our democracy; we’d never want to jeopardize anyone’s ability to do so
— Mariana Atencio (@marianaatencio) October 30, 2018
Berrie reached out on Facebook saying he’d be willing to sit down with Atencio or MSNBC to talk to them on Friday, but told the Washington Examiner he has not yet been contacted.
[Also read: ‘SNL’ mocks ex-Navy SEAL candidate Dan Crenshaw: ‘I know he lost his eye in war — or whatever’]
